tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55437441337228855532017-07-23T12:22:57.494+02:00Music and personal wisdomMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-90501480461806767672017-01-24T21:14:00.001+01:002017-01-24T21:14:19.468+01:00WHY GERMAN GIRLFRIENDS ARE THE WORST<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slP_gjSr3UA" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-64578276183411942892017-01-18T21:13:00.001+01:002017-01-18T21:13:46.181+01:00HOW TO MAKE ANY GERMAN GIRL CUM EVERY TIME<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9tEjX2gMh1w" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-30095702951201069442017-01-17T00:37:00.001+01:002017-01-17T00:37:22.786+01:00GERMAN YOUTUBE IS A WHORISH HELLHOLE (I found another media whore)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/83mGC4Ha41g" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-54851023251875203712017-01-14T22:34:00.001+01:002017-01-14T22:34:49.206+01:00GERMAN MEDIA WHORES EXPLOIT LITTLE ANIMALS<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/46eB5glu6ys" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-49339076567162368352017-01-13T21:15:00.001+01:002017-01-13T21:15:50.852+01:00GERMAN YOUTUBERS SPITTING FIRE ON SUMMER TRACK<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dR2DBQkFnCY" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-45682373522594917582017-01-13T01:09:00.001+01:002017-01-13T01:09:13.974+01:00GERMAN YOUTUBERS EXPLOIT LITTLE KIDS FOR PROFIT<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qp_iMh18dE0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-89868179453987557732017-01-12T22:36:00.001+01:002017-01-12T22:36:27.524+01:00GERMAN YOUTUBERS EXPLOIT LITTLE KIDS FOR PROFIT<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qp_iMh18dE0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-81979055050805079992017-01-11T22:40:00.001+01:002017-01-11T22:40:14.020+01:00WHY GERMAN RELATIONSHIPS LAST THE LONGEST<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YyYp6j59t0U" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-3870847575403743832017-01-10T21:16:00.001+01:002017-01-10T21:16:31.477+01:00CONFUSING GERMAN DRUGS WILL KILL YOU 100%<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gZa0s-uBDOI" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-3800795047980425452017-01-09T16:16:00.001+01:002017-01-09T16:16:43.517+01:00GERMAN MEDIA WHORES ARE JUST AS WHORISH AS YOU'D EXPECT!!<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHmzSt-rlZY" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-28489638875962167492017-01-08T20:27:00.001+01:002017-01-08T20:27:05.841+01:00GERMAN YOUTUBE IS AS BAD AS YOU THINK!!<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uoetuCxTCfQ" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe> So I have decided to try out a completely new format on YouTube, and make vicious commentary on German trending/viral videos in English to showcase that German YouTube is just as bad as its English counterpart. Let me know what you think please :) Peace!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-187459374062745452016-10-16T12:59:00.000+02:002016-10-16T12:59:59.343+02:00The pedophile, satanic, psycho, prankster Killer Clowns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VfFNE2LNU44/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VfFNE2LNU44?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Holy fucking shit. I have not posted on here in almost a year.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There were good reasons for my hiatus as you can surely imagine, but I'll hold off explaning them until my next post which will be in writing entirely.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This post here is merely a reminder that I still exist, and to inform you guys that I will return to posting more or less regularly from now on.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So... This short vlog is just me giving my two cents about this Killer Clown Fad that's been flooding the internet these past weeks, and my take on multiple theories surrounding it.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I know I sound &amp; look like shit in this video but it was early in the morning and I was in the mood to record; as I'm not someone who does second takes or editing, this is the version you'll have to deal with.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I hope you'll enjoy it regardless!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Peace.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">P.S.: No Songs today, I'm still adjusting myself to being back in Germany and have too much on my plate right now to look for quality music. Sorry.&nbsp;</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-7380965261979656412015-08-25T16:40:00.001+02:002015-08-25T17:17:31.731+02:00Porn, Drugs, and a gun<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dsF41bHjJ10" width="360"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">As I have received quite a lot of positive feedback on my vlogging try, I have decided to keep on doing it for a while until I get bored with it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">This time around I'm talking about a rather funny incident at a Maryland Correctional Facility. I have also written an article about this on GonzoToday!, which you can find <a href="http://gonzotoday.com/2015/08/25/two-men-try-to-fly-porn-drugs-and-a-handgun-into-prison-with-drone/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I hope you guys enjoy today's post, and below are the to the YouTube videos of the songs I talk about at the end of the vlog:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>R.A. The Rugged Man - Lessons</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3gRWpVdI6Tc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3gRWpVdI6Tc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>R.A. The Rugged Man - The People's Champ</b></u><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G5v2ePtIH6w/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G5v2ePtIH6w?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><u><b>R.A. The Rugged Man - Brawl</b></u><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GtBzmrxw_X4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GtBzmrxw_X4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><u><b>R.A. The Rugged Man - The Dangerous Three (feat. Brother Ali &amp; Masta Ace)</b></u><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y1fZH0s_5L8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1fZH0s_5L8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><u><b>R.A. The Rugged Man - Holla-Loo-Yuh (feat. Tech N9ne &amp; Krizz Kaliko)</b></u><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HS5-M7XokPw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HS5-M7XokPw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">...and as a little bonus, here's "Definition of a rap flow" by him:</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VGiwITaso_g/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VGiwITaso_g?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">So I hope you guys liked today's vlog and song selection. Let me know what you think about the two dudes and their drone in the comments, by mail, or on Facebook!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace!</span></div></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-30135110013271563762015-08-23T04:06:00.003+02:002015-08-23T04:06:33.285+02:00Vlog #1<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AkQBHPfpFcI" width="360"></iframe><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">As I haven't posted in an eternity, I have decided to start "vlogging" on the issues I usually write about. Making a video takes a lot less time than writing an entry as I don't edit the video. I haven't added songs this time, but will return to doing so next time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyhow, I hope you guys like this new format!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br />Peace. </span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-24895755664916079622015-05-25T17:33:00.000+02:002015-05-25T17:33:00.931+02:00It's been a while<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">since the last time I've gotten around to post something on here. Quite a while, actually. Probably the longest while I've ever put writing on here off, but well, I'm busy as fuck. I've got four books to write, am</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">doing sports, working, and continue to write regularly for GonzoToday, all of which combined makes scribbling on here utterly impossible.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I've gotten all my chores done for the day, and can therefore just sit back for a minute and let the words flow from my brain, through my veins, and onto this fucked up laptop that hasn't been working properly since Christmas. There are so many things to say I don't even know where to start; for one, I've moved up my flight date to China to the first of July, and am therefore swamped in various kinds of preparations. I'm also working as a waiter these days, which is possibly the best job for the kind of money I'm making there, but also means that on most days I come home with my energy fully depleted and unable to produce a coherent line of thought, much less write one down. I've also taken to smoking again, which is just another vice to add on my long list, and therefore not all that bad. Although I have to say that cigarettes are the devil's playmates, and I certainly loathe the addiction, there are still so many things my insane cerebrum perceives as positive about them that I cannot seem to fully stop. I'll have to find some sort of a middle-way I can take there in order not to fuck myself up all too much and still not having to give up the smoking. Or I'll manage to just stop again, which would of course be better. At least I've stopped betting unreasonably large amounts of money on soccer games, which is a huge relief for both my conscience and my wallet. There are not many things going on in my life besides my work, my preparations, and GonzoToday at the moment, which means that there isn't so much to write about either.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Although I do have a topic that's been lingering in my mind since a job I've had a few weeks ago; I was at some sort of fancy private bank where a few artists displayed their works and the bank's clients dined for free. Serving these money-ridden, arrogant pricks made me realize just how little ability to handle money these people actually have. First of all, they're letting their money rot away in a bank, which shows that they have no clue as to what to do with their money anyways. Secondly, these snobby bastards have somehow, somewhere gotten so entrenched in the notion that their money makes them morally and socially better than everyone else that they're now just looking down on anyone they deem "too poor" or "too weird" to associate themselves with. I mean I offered some of these bastards something to drink or eat and they just took it with their head raised slightly higher, not looking or god forbid talking to me. I was a fucking peasant in their eyes, and I can simply not understand how blinded one can be by some worthless fucking slips of paper. It is just so damn sad to see how we have 90% of the world's population starving to death, and then these rich fucks have the audacity to look down on someone bringing them free food. It's mind-boggling madness to me, really. These people do not have one shred of human dignity left in their filthy bodies, and I can not understand how these kind of people are what we're being taught to strive for. Big money is a good dream, don't get me wrong, I myself am trying to get as rich as I can, but this dream was somehow blurred and distorted in our everyday society to mean that striving for money is striving for materialistic decadence, and that's what's being glorified on the news, and in pop-culture. It's sad, really, to what level we have stooped. We used to understand that with great power - monetary influence in this case - comes great responsibility, but apparently this understanding has been lost, we have been deluded by the influence on TV and in movies, and are now aiming for the power, but not willing to take on the responsibilities anymore, and that is breeding a culture of people that have such a large financial wealth, but no idea and no drive to do something good for others with it, and that just cannot stand. I'm not loathing someone for being rich, why would I? If that person's has paid his or her dues, and gotten rich by doing something he or she knows how - great! But please, prior to getting rich, understand the responsibilities that come with it - if you're rich and you do nothing but sit on your ass all day, then I loathe you, your existence, and everything you stand for. Arrogance is something that I really, and thoroughly despise, and, working in the field of "Haute Cuisine", I see so much of it each and every day, and have therefore developed a burning passion to purge the earth of those snobby fucks with a stick so far up their ass that it tickles their nose once and for all.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Ha. A good, old-fashioned rant is just what I need to unwind sometimes. And it really did the trick, I'm now so much at ease that I'm getting sleepy... Ah... This will have to wait, first going to smoke then go to bed now...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">...and I'm back. Took two whole days to actually find the time again, but I'm slowly working through this post so as to have it done by Saturday, which is the day on which I'll hopefully be able to upload it. Anyhow. I am quite anxious as to finally get the fuck out of Europe and back into wonderful Asia again, let me tell you that. There is nothing that takes more toll on my creativity than being surrounding by these energy-sucking parasites of Europeans again. I had forgotten just how annoying, arrogant, selfish, and utterly distasteful German people can be during my 7 years in China, and now that I've been back here for almost two years, I am so fucking eager to get back East that I'd take the next plane if it weren't for money and preparation needing to be gotten and made. There's literally nothing else holding me back here. With a few good friends of mine and my parents being the obvious exception.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I complain too much, I know. There are some great things about being back in Germany, too, but the disadvantages clearly outweigh any positive points I could possibly find. Politics alone drive me mad here. It's not like it's better in Asia, politics suck all over the globe, but at least it's not this hypocritical lie-fest that we're being subjected to in our oh-so-free Western culture. It boggles the mind how many fucking lies and misrepresentations of facts some suit-wearing assholes can fit into a single sentence. I fucking hate that in the Western world it's all about how something sounds or how someone looks instead of about the content of the sentences and the personality of the individual. And I know that I'm repeating myself for like the billionth time with this, but, well, it's not like anything's changed since I've last approached this topic, so I might either not have reached the right people or they didn't give a fuck last time and need to be reminded of their own hypocrisy.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Argh. I don't post for two months or so, and then my big comeback post is the above repetitive bullshit. Big disappointment, I know. But all of my creative juices are currently being put into the books and articles and interviews and video scripts and so on that I'm currently writing, which is why only the dull left-overs scraped off of the last unused parts of my worn-out brain actually arrive here, which actually saddens me, but has to be treated as an unchangeable fact for now. I hope I'll be less busy at some point in the next couple of months and be able to produce some quality content for you guys again! Until then, please just hang on and enjoy the good music below:&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Die Antwoord - Fatty Boom Boom</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AIXUgtNC4Kc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AIXUgtNC4Kc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Well, Die Antwoord is quite clearly unlike anything I have ever posted, but I immensely enjoy their music, and especially their message; they're the blueprint for anti-establishment. They were signed with Interscope Records, but decided to drop that label when they were to be forced to cooperate with a popular artists. And the above video is their response to being asked to open for Lady Gaga, which is a pretty awesome fucking answer if you ask me. Anyway, great song, talented and authentic musicians, and a simply weird, freaky video... Enjoy!&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Die Antwoord - So What?</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6WRuKDRWetg/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6WRuKDRWetg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; This track illustrates my reason for liking Die Antwoord quite well, I think. It's a great, old-school style Hip Hop track with a great <i>carpe diem</i> kind of message, which really speaks to me. Plus it is just shows the raw, creative potential within this group, which I think is virtually limitless. These are two really good rappers come together with a great DJ, and they do everything from sad love songs to energetic rave music, which is another reason why I enjoy them so much; they diversify, they don't stay on the same boring path all the time, and that's what makes them so awesomely unique! Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Jetta - I'd love to change the world (Matstubs Remix)</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5hEh9LiSzow/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5hEh9LiSzow?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; This sounds like an angel came down from heaven to sit down at a mixer and make a heavenly sound straight outta paradise. I cannot put into the words the cosmic buzz listening to this song gives me, it's orgasmic, really. This is really a wave of beauty that crashes through your eardrum and straight into your brain, drowning out any thought and giving you over to an emotional roller-coaster that leaves you exhausted, exhilarated, cranked up, and hungry for more... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Tove Lo - Habits (Hippie Sabotage Remix)</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SYM-RJwSGQ8/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SYM-RJwSGQ8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; With a name like "Hippie Sabotage", I expected something a bit different, but was positively surprised - this is perhaps the best remix of this otherwise rather dull song that I have heard. The great build-up to the soul-freeing hook that just screams drug use in excess, but also encompasses that spiritual, dreamy part of the brain that forces you to think about what you're doing and how you're doing it. I don't know, this song just evokes a lot of interesting feelings, especially when listening to it under the influence. Plus this remix just brings out the very best of this tune, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Black Sabbath - Paranoid</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QQBttKoetqo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QQBttKoetqo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Well, I remember posting the Gus Black acoustic version of this song on here, but not the original song, which is a huge error on my part for which I apologize! I don't think that there's much to say to this song seeing as it is simply a pure classic that should get everyone wet between their legs. Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b>Iron Maiden - The Trooper</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2G5rfPISIwo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2G5rfPISIwo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; I am on my classics trip once again, and dug up this old gem. An energetic, riff-laden masterpiece of epic proportions. The opening riff alone is one of the most memorable in history, and the rest of the song continues in like fashion. There is seldom a person who wouldn't list "the trooper" as one of the first songs when asked if he or she knows any good Iron Maiden songs. This tune has truly stood the test of time, and is an all-time classic that shan't ever be forgotten. Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Well, it has really taken me a lot of time to actually get through writing this, and it is by now not Saturday but Monday, but what the hell, at least I managed to finally post something again. I think I will have to reduce the interval of my posts to once a month, because in my current situation nothing else is really possible, for which I apologize. But well, I hope that you've enjoyed this post nevertheless, and that you'll keep on following my blog until I have time to post on a weekly or bi-weekly basis again.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Peace!</span></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-27316411178153698372015-03-25T23:25:00.000+01:002015-03-25T23:25:38.513+01:00A wise man's advice<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">tends to go unheard by those needing it the most. It seems as if the people that are on their way to complete self-destruction and eternal despair are the very people entirely unfazed by&nbsp; wise advice directed at them in a desperate attempt to save their lives. I don't know why that is, maybe ignorance is inherent to the kind of mindset that inhibits those set on self-destruction. Or maybe a wise man is not perceived as such and therefore the advice does not arrive in the minds of those targeted.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I don't know. I'm not even sure that there is an actual point I was trying to make in the paragraph above. Something about wise men and their advice being unheard by those needing it the most... but I don't see anything interesting coming out of that topic to be honest. So, we'll need something else. It's getting hard to find things to write about once again, which is partially due to my work for <a href="http://www.gonzotoday.com/" target="_blank">GonzoToday!</a>, seeing as I am now listed as Staff Writer there and am so quite eager to get articles published as often as possible, which leads to me having less time and energy to put into this blog. But I still want to post on here as much as I can, hence this entry. My uncertainty regarding a topic has still not disappeared though, and I am facing the same dilemma I am always facing... I don't know what to write about... Hm... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Holy fucking shit. I am so fucking far behind deadline that I cannot even produce the words to describe that time span. And of course I'm sorry, but I know that I have done this and apologized for it far too often than to be able to reasonably expect anyone to actually believe my reasons - which are the same as usually - anymore. Which is fine, really.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyway. I am going to get back to the topic I hinted at in the first and then dismissed in the second paragraph, which is the way that advice uttered by those that are generally, or at least by me personally, considered to be wise completely gets missed or even worse misinterpreted by those needing it the most. One example that comes to mind would be most religious leaders; they - or at least most of them - are preaching a message of peace, of love, of unity with yourself and your surroundings, but a helluva lot of extremists are misinterpreting these messages and turn them into formulas for blind hatred and senseless violence. This is a trend inherent to most faiths, at least the biggest groups, with the most prominent examples being the crusades and the infamous jihad. I have never heard anyone rape, kill, or plunder in the name of Buddhism though. There should be more Buddhists then, I suppose, but those needing advice of wise men usually do not tend to look further than the established religions for guidance, or are easily caught by some cults like Scientology. Ah, so we're going down that road again... Alright, let's do it. These kind of cults and sects realize when a person has come to an extreme down point in their life, it's like they can smell misery, and they can easily position themselves as wise and knowledgeable and happy in the minds of those poor sorrow-struck souls. Which is not something those actually possessing valuable information are apparently unable of doing, and that sucks.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Fucking hell, I still have no idea where I'm going with this. Like literally, none. I started this with a clear line of thought in mind, as usually, but ended up not continuing to write right away, and lost that train of thought completely by now. Which makes this whole entry somewhat weird..</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Well. It's currently 9AM and I have already been awake for a few hours. I've actually managed to create a habit of getting up early lately, and it's doing wonders for my energy. I've also started going to the gym, which is also proving to be working out quite well for me, and that is really something I would not ever have expected just a year ago. It's funny how some things can change so drastically whereas others remain unaltered for a lifetime. Stagnation is one of the great forces in life, and some part within each and everyone of us is definitely affected by it. "People don't change", as said Dr. House, and he was right; most people you'll meet are pathological liars that will often pretend to have changed but will never actually try and alter their personality. Which is not bad per se, at the least the latter isn't, but it does get frustrating to see people around you still clinging to the crazy notion that humans are actually capable of change when subjected to enough pressure and/or information. I call absolute bullshit on this; you can naturally mess a person's head up enough until even their most basic character traits become unrecognizable, but in any normal scenario, people will do everything to convince themselves that they have changed whilst repeating the same old shit. That is why History repeats itself, that is why most of us are completely unable to learn from our mistakes... We say we do, we have our logical reasons to not do something again, and yet we keep on working the same tired routine, day in, day out... I am sitting here, 50 Cent blasting on full volume next to me, sipping on some Green Tea, and contemplating the life path that lies ahead of me. I have by now decided to go about realizing myself a little differently: I will actually go back to the business environment I loathe, but I will not be an employee - I'll start my own business. And I will reinvest that money smartly, and so create passive and/or portfolio income that I can then live of. And at that point, my entire life will be completely focused on doing what I love - writing. No financial worries anymore. That is now part of my plan for life that is slowly appearing in the mist of what I had planned... being self-employed is nice, you know, but what I strive for is true independence. The kind of independence that will allow me to fully indulge in journalism, and not getting doors slammed in front of my face anymore. The kind of independence that allows me to do whatever the fuck I want, and getting in the face of anyone I please. And of course the road to there will be paved with hardship, long business talks, and lots of annoying-ass money-related BS, but I am willing to take that road in order to be able to use the influence that is inherent to wealth coupled with the journalistic sense of justice that is inherent to myself in order to finally get some people to wake the fuck up and bring some change into this messed up planet of ours. But I digress.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I was actually talking about the way I will invest in my future from now on. A way that was largely influenced by Robert T. Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", to be honest. Now, of course, I am not one to simply buy into any self-proclaimed guru's expertise, but as a nudge and life philosophy changer, this book has done a lot of good to the way I think about money, and changed the way I will go about handling it. And while I am not deluding myself with thoughts of billions of dollars piling up on my bank account, I do think that a life of financial freedom is possible, and will do my best to achieve it as quickly as I can reasonably expect to. Because although money is the sole root of all evil in this world, it is also the only weapon powerful enough to stop it - "an immortal can only be killed by another immortal", as it were.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But that is already pretty much everything I have to say for this post, that is so fucking delayed that even trying to justify it would be an insult to you guys. So let me just leave you with my sincerest apologies, and some good music:</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Pane Mua - Powerstomp (Spag Heddy Remix)&nbsp;</b> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oaoS8dLsqaU/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oaoS8dLsqaU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I have spent some time on the Most Addictive Dubstep channel once again, and stumbled upon this beauty right here. Although the high-pitched build-up is a tad hard on my ears, the drop has this amazing energy that is reflected in the following three-step in- and decreases of the melody, which just forces my head into a state of mindless nodding that only starts to fade when the last second of this epic piece of greatness has passed... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Fox Stevenson - Trigger</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nDJSTQ-8NSA/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nDJSTQ-8NSA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>&nbsp;</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Yup, I'm still roaming around the realms of MA Dubstep, and just when I was on the verge of going to another channel for the next song, I came across this bit of beautiful filth right here. Now, I have no idea whatsoever who Fox Stevenson may be - and I hope he doesn't get mad at me if he ever reads this - but I do know that this guy has just managed to blow my fucking brain out of my skull, and that is saying something! It's always so hard to find good electronic music online, especially Dubstep, simply because any idiot who can fiddle a bit with the gain and bass of a song believes they're the next big thing in EDM, and that makes separating the wheat from the chaff insanely hard. That being sad, this is an awesome tune, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Gang Starr - Full Clip</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/U76Nde6rMTw/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U76Nde6rMTw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>&nbsp;</b>-&gt; "Big L, Rest In Peace!", and then the beat comes in, and Guru gets on top of it, with his unique flow and delivery, combined with his double-rhymes, and just dominates the whole thing from beginning to end. Too bad he died, shall he rest in peace as well. Anyhow. This song is fucking great - the scratched-together hook, the amazing beat that induces heavy nodding to the beat, and the awesome lyrics, all together form a grand piece of Hip Hop music! Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Das EFX - Real Hip Hop</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IMVZQQBed04/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IMVZQQBed04?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Do I really need to say anything about this classic? From the third Das EFX studio album, "Hold It Down", this song quickly spiraled to be the benchmark for real old-school Hip-Hop tunes, and has stayed with heads from all around the globe ever since. The funky beat, the cool rapping, the raw and rugged flavor of the video... This is just an all in all amazing track, produced by the one and only Dj Premier, and a must-know for anyone who considers himself even loosely affiliated with the notion of Hip Hop culture, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Simon &amp; Garfunkel - The Boxer</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l3LFML_pxlY/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l3LFML_pxlY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Wow. Just wow. Simon &amp; Garfunkel do not fail to amaze me with their amazing songs. This great, partly autobiographical song that looks at a boxer trying to make it in New York City, is a momentum to the past. This riptide of craziness and solitude flowing against the current of this beautiful tune, this underlying anger, these two talented artists hearing the mere echo of a voice that rang so loudly in past days... This song gives me truly supernatural chills... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b> Warren Zevon - Don't Let Us Get Sick</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ELe4vC3oM5E/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ELe4vC3oM5E?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Warren Zevon was a musical genius in many ways. He was the kind of person who forced you to look at yourself the way you really are, not the way you would like to be seen by others. He was indeed "good people". He was a close personal friend of Hunter S. Thompson. And he wrote this beautiful piece of musical excellence that could make grown man weep little girl's tears of innocence. Why do all the good ones leave us so early? Rest In Peace, Warren, you will be missed!&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b></b><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b></b><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">So. I have once again managed to completely miss my deadline, and haven't even gotten a good post to show for it... I mean, honestly, the above ramblings are quite a bit below par, but I cannot for the life of me bring myself to deleting them and writing anew, so you'll just have to deal with an aggressively mediocre content this time, as sorry as I am for that! Anyhow. I hope that -- in spite of the horrid lack of organization, sense, or a golden thread -- there were a few things you could take away from this entry and apply to your own lives, you know the deal. I cannot promise that I will post regularly again next time seeing as I am still going through a number of major transitions in my life and am writing more and more for GonzoToday, but I can promise that the next entry will be of adequate quality once again. With that in mind, I hope that these ramblings were at least moderately enjoyable to you!&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace! </span></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-386463858588954562015-02-20T10:25:00.001+01:002015-02-20T10:25:53.610+01:00A day like any other<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">has been a rare occurrence these past weeks. I have been jolted out of my transfixed routine, and I like it. My move to China is set in stone now, and so there's preparations to make, lists to work through, people to inform, and money to somehow get, which is proving to be an all in all very tiring, but also quite fulfilling experience. I have also started to write an actual journal with a pen in a notebook, so that, if the internet ever breaks down completely, I'll have at least some of my thoughts and ideas written down and not lost for eternity. I am getting more and more into the idea of just realizing myself and my writing, and am getting more and more positive, as well as negative, feedback on my scrambled ramblings, which is really giving me the edge I need to push on; on the one hand I want to show the bastards still doubting me, and on the other hand I want to deliver the kind of quality those believing in me expect from me, so I'm generally striving to be the best goddamned writer I can be, which should be helpful on my quest to become a self-supporting journalist, writer, blogger, author, or someone of that ilk.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I've said that so many times by now, it's getting old, isn't it? You all know by now that I have some sort of manic, borderline psychotic obsession for writing, and that I intend to use that obsession to sustain myself financially throughout the rest of my life. I like to think that if I set my mind to something, I can also achieve it, and whilst I'm not deluding myself with dreams of money and fame, I do believe that I have what it takes to get a shot at the life of a self-providing freelancing writer, preferably journalist, and I have every intention of setting all hell in motion to get and make that shot. I know the life and work as a writer to be a very hateful one, filled with impossible deadlines, hard months, and borderline starvation at times; but I also know that there is no real alternative for me out there: I can't go back now that I've developed a taste for blood. I'm hungry now, I've been unleashed, and I won't restrain myself before I haven't gotten my name out there and my voice heard. Even if I don't make a dime, even if I end up on the streets, in jail, or in a loony bin, I'll keep on writing, and though I know I'm being a bit melodramatic right now, I really do mean the essence of what I'm saying: </span><br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">“As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer.”&nbsp; - HST</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Once again, the good Doctor has formulated the point I was trying to make a lot better than I could ever hope to. The above quote just expresses my exact sentiments: I don't actually know that my writing is any good, and I have no way of knowing if I'll ever make enough money with it to support myself, but I do know that I'm going to be a writer, whatever that means. Ha. It certainly feels good to finally being able to refer to myself as a journalist and writer, or at least to be able to say that I'm going to try and be one, which is now that I'm quitting my studies to chase that dream, actually the very least I can say about myself. And though I realize that there are many obstacles yet to overcome on the long path that lies ahead of me, I do feel a certain sense of victory lingering in the air, a certain sense of overcoming the odds and finally getting off-shore and battling the stormy winds of life out at sea with no lifebuoy on board, just relying on my own strength and knowledge. I am in the throes of an all-out writing frenzy that will probably keep me going until fate reduces my existence to nothingness, and maybe even for a little while after that. The problem is that I need to keep vigil over my manic streak that loves to manifest itself in what is admittedly my best work, but that is also quite damaging to other areas of my life, like human relations, meeting deadlines, and simply getting up in the morning, which all turn into insurmountable obstacles once I am back in that borderline psychotic mood that hits me every once in a while. Hm. Remember my previous entry? I should probably be very leery of writing about any 'abnormalities' in my mental health, for I fear that some three-letter-agency henchmen might come bursting through my door in order to get me pumped full of pharmaceutical poison and thrown in some nice padded cell in some asylum for the mentally ill. But I'm reiterating my last post. I was actually getting at the way that knowing I'll become some sort of writer has altered my perspective on a lot of things; I am doing much more to advertise myself as a writer, blogger, and journalist, and am taking every opportunity I see to get my name out there, which is slowly starting to yield some possibilities of writing work, which I think is pretty awesome! I have to say that back in school I would never have dreamed of actually trying to make a living with my writing; I had been told my writing is good, but to me it was always just an easy way to get good grades with little effort. Until I started to write my blog and get actual feedback by people unknown to me, that is. When I realized that the words I produce are apparently of actual value to some, I&nbsp; also started realizing just how much putting words onto paper satisfies my inner-most needs. I was always a man of words come to think of it: back in grade school I knew how to convince teachers better than most others did, and even started working on a "novel"; in high school I was rapping - still do by the way - and actually part of the Model United Nations Debate Club; and now.... well now I am quitting my studies to become a journalist and writer. Many of you will have wondered by now why I choose not to write in my native language, German. Well, I can't really answer that question to be honest; I have always felt some inexplicable connection to the English language, and am much more at ease when formulating sentences in English, simply because the syntax and grammar comes easily to me. Now of course I am also working as a journalist for a German event-planning organization, so I naturally also write articles in German, but they don't work as well, if you catch my drift. English just has so many more synonyms and stylistic devices to offer than German. Hm. That's not entirely true either, there is some grand German writing, like Kafka, Nietzsche, and Goethe, that will prove the opposite, but I am for some reason much more proficient in the use of English vocabulary and rhetorical devices. It's weird, really. I think my focus on the English language in literature and film - coupled with the six years I spent living in China alongside American and British students - is to 'blame' here. I'm personally appalled by the miserable standard of English in German schools, and also by the fact that most consider their school-level English to be adequate in a professional context; don't get me wrong, I don't want to bash anyone whose English isn't perfect, not everyone is good at learning languages after all, but I do have a problem with people simply not recognizing that their skills aren't really up to par and in the worst case even getting all up in your face when you call them out on a mistake. It's not like I'm one of those condescending fucks that treat your every false utterance like a huge crime to their personal ethics, I'm usually very quiet and polite when telling someone about their errors, but even then there are some people who apparently just cannot handle being criticized at all and throw a real fit whenever I approach an erroneous aspect of their English speaking. Those are the same people that pounce on my every mistake to try and ridicule me, mind you. Which is obviously not working, for I'm well aware that I'm far from perfect; I know that I do have a certain knowledge of the English language that probably exceeds that of other non-native speakers not building their career on writing in English, but I also know that there are many errors I am still prone to, and so I am thankful for everyone pointing these errors out to me, for only by seeing one's mistakes learning becomes possible. Anyway. What I was getting is is that some people simply cannot admit their wrongdoings and are so entrenched in their egomania that they will never be able to actually learn anything; because you don't learn by supposedly doing things right and being praised all the time, but rather by fucking up and getting yelled at. You won't realize what not to do unless you've tried doing it, which is why I cannot understand how people can react so badly to criticism; it's understandable that you get agitated if a review of your work is actually insulting, but if someone calmly addresses some issues they feel compromise the quality of what you're doing, you should definitely listen to that someone. You don't necessarily have to implement what you're being told, but it is always advantageous to get a third or fourth opinion on whatever it is you happen to be doing in order to see either what you're already doing properly, or what you need to change in the way you're going about doing things. It just gives you some perspective on your work, and perspective allows you to look at your work from a meta-level, evaluating it more objectively.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">There's obviously always going to be a natural bias in the way you think about your own creations. As soon as you get feedback from others it pertains to gaining objectivity when evaluating your work though, and can so ultimately lead to at least partially overcoming that bias. Said bias is not necessarily positive though, mind you; I for one am almost always sure that what I have published is utter bullshit once it's online, but after a couple of days my regular sources for objective feedback usually tell me that they have enjoyed (at least most of) what I wrote, and that's the point at which I slowly begin to see that the piece of writing in question doesn't show an utter lack of quality content after all. The point being that my natural bias is a negative one, unlike most peoples' apparently, at least those of the people I have encountered so far: most of them tend to think that what they produce - be it writing, music, art, whatever - is top-notch and will revolutionize the whole world, and can only begin to admit that their production is maybe not as good as they had thought after they have been told so by multiple people. Both of these schools of thought hold their obvious pitfalls, but I personally would say that being negatively biased is better for your creative process to some extent; if you think you're doing worse than you actually are doing, you'll be more prone to striving to fully exhaust your potential capabilities, at least I know that I am, although there are some people that are so negatively biased that they either don't show their work to anyone or don't accept any positive remarks, at which point the bias is obviously an obstacle that needs to be overcome. With a positive bias however, you're more likely to produce lesser quality work, because you think that every shit you take is composed of solid gold anyways, which might make your mind resort to egomania at some point if your work isn't all that good and you're constantly being told so, because your disturbed ego won't be able to handle the criticism of something it considers to be perfect, and at that point you've become a mentally damaged asshole. This does not imply that you cannot have a positive bias towards your creations without being a dick about it, but it is certainly a pitfall of said bias to be aware of. Anyhow. This tangent about objectivity and biases suddenly came out of nowhere, didn't it? I was actually talking about the reasoning behind me using English instead of German for my writing needs; and well, there's the few reasons mentioned above, but the truth remains that I cannot really put my finger on my actual motivation for doing so. I just enjoy English. A lot. I solely watch American and British TV shows, I almost exclusively read American and British books, and am generally more versed in the English language than in any of the other languages I speak, and that is probably the main reason I chose English as my writing language: I can express what I want to the way I want to, using the words that do not only sound but also feel right in the context, and I am able to elicit the kind of associations I want to in my readers' minds, or at least I hope that I am. All I do know is that for my purposes and to the best of my knowledge I am using the right words at the right time, and am much more successful at doing so in English than for example in my native language, German, as weird as that may be to some.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I have come across an unspeakably tasteless atrocity that needs to be brought to everyone's attention: the shooting at Chapel Hill, N.C.. Some guy shot three young Muslims, allegedly because of a "parking dispute", according to local police. Whatever his reasons may have been, I do not care to be honest. It is saddening and sobering that everyone is so hellbent on connecting religion and xenophobia to this case, when all that really counts is the family and friends of these poor souls that were shot, and of course that the judicial entities bring the guy who did it to justice. But what I see are things like a Facebook group dedicated to "saving </span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Craig Stephen Hicks", and one post in that group defends this guy with the disgusting argument that what he did was something that "most infidels would love to do!" and a comment on that saying "I hope that this is just the beginning and [...] people will follow his example"... Well. I seriously hope that that is some sort of very dark satire. Because I could not emphasize how fucked up that would be otherwise. Here's a guy that shot 3 people, and just because these people happened to be Muslim, there are now some racist fucks defending his actions. If a Muslim had happened to shoot three Christians, these same people would be condemning these very actions. Fucking hell, this world has bred some messed up personalities. And naturally the media coverage for this tragedy has been rather meager; it's just not as interesting or scandalous to see Muslims being shot by White people, apparently, as sickening as that realization is. And it does not fit into the media created image of the evil Islam either, so of course it descended into the footnotes of the newscast instead of being the headline it deserves to be. Isn't it gruesome to see just how political the medias' decision whether to cover a story in-depth or not has become? It's pathetic, really.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I can't get more into this topic now though, maybe I'll do a separate post about it or something. Just do your own research, you've got my thoughts about the issue already. I'm getting really tired, it's 4 AM already, and I am not even remotely done with all the writing work I still have to do; there's a translation still to be completed, there's this blog post, and there are five interviews in my notebook waiting to be compiled into full articles. And most, if not all of it won't be done prior to tomorrow evening, simply because my concentration is dwindling at an alarming rate right now, and so tonight I won't be able to actually select the songs that will appear below...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>The Mamas &amp; The Papas - California Dreaming</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/qhZULM69DIw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qhZULM69DIw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Great, classic tune. I love the guitar play, the lyrics, and the voices. It's just one of those timeless evergreens that you only come across a few times in your lifetime. A song that stays with you wherever you go, and well, it's just beautiful music, so... Enjoy!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Simon &amp; Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/sqGP6p0mNc8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sqGP6p0mNc8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Wow. Goosebumps slowly creeping up my spine and slowly but surely encompassing my entire body. Blood rushing to my head, a little dizziness coming on, and then the realization of the inner beauty of the words that flow with the stream of music, hitting me with the might of a hammer but with the subtlety of a feather. "But my words, like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence...". I can't stress enough how amazing this song is, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Knife Party - Give It Up</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/a5oVA6ho570/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a5oVA6ho570?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Awesome! This is some great, energetic Dubstep just the way I like it! Great, Reggae-like intro that slowly morphs into an eargasm-inducing build-up ultimately leading to a great drop that coerces your limps to start jerking around to the beat!<b> </b>At this point I would once again like to recommend the "MA Dubstep" YouTube channel, they feature some really amazing tracks on there from time to time, and are definitely a good source if you like that kind of music! Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Music Predators - Adventure Time (Condukta Remix)</b> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/xpGkfG2uzsc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xpGkfG2uzsc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Well, MA Dubstep doesn't fail to amaze me! Epic remix of a great song! I love the build-up, the melodic parts, and the drops that keep getting a bit heavier and adding a little more crunch to the bass each time they come around, it's just an all in all great song in my opinion. And for those of you wondering, yes, I have just discovered this song because I was still browsing the MA Dubstep channel after posting the last tune. As I said, it's a great source for this kind of music, and this is a great example to prove just that, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Afu-Ra feat. Gentleman - Why Cry</span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/7WmyKbGVpeI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7WmyKbGVpeI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Now this is what I call music! Afu-Ra, who is part of the Gang Starr Foundation, a great, underground rapper, together with the German reggae sensation Gentleman on a great, peaceful, anti-system track that has a great message and spreads awesomely positive vibes! This song is truly a legendary piece of art, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Jedi Mind Tricks ft. Young Zee &amp; Pacewon - Design in Malice</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/8l75Z8wil_U/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8l75Z8wil_U?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; "They're no longer Christian! They no longer follow Jesus! They follow the devil, one hundred percent!" Which is extremely true on a meta-level; those claiming to be extremely religious nowadays are those acting in complete opposition to the values most, if not all religions preach. Anyhow. This song is fucking awesome, and Jedi Mind Tricks are pretty great in my opinion. Vinnie Paz might overuse some topics and not be the very best Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b></b></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Let me start this paragraph by saying that I am really sorry about the delay in publishing, but, as I have explained in the first paragraphs of this entry, a lot of things are happening in my life, and I am doing a whole lot of writing work for a number of different people, which is really taken a toll on my creativity, and so, because I don't want to dump low quality writing on you either, I need a bit more time to finish the posts for this blog, find music, and make everything ready for publication. But I will keep doing my best to continue posting at least twice a month on here, and hopefully entertaining, educating, and providing an interesting read for you guys. I am really happy that this blog still has the 20-40 people reading it regularly, and I do wish to attract more readers in the future, so if you guys would be so kind as to inform your friends of this blog's existence, I'd be extremely happy! I might actually do some sort of contest in the not too far future, maybe a writing contest, or just a lottery kind of thing, and there will be a prize in form of a nice book or something like that! So, look out for that, I'll be announcing the details sometime soon!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyhow. I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this rather belated entry, that it has taught you something, or at least caused you to rethink a few things, but you know the deal...</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace!</span></div></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-3487828800563043282015-01-18T15:52:00.000+01:002015-01-18T15:54:34.422+01:00Drugging the creative people<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">has been a convenient way for oppressive regimes to keep freethinkers at bay for a few hundred years now, by simply calling them "mentally unfit", pumping them full of harmful medication, and locking them up with actual lunatics in insane asylums, with the sole purpose of maintaining their "social stability" and doing away with dissidents. It has happened in Soviet Russia and the Third Reich, and is probably happening in the US to some extent as well. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Goddamn, I just can't get focused enough right now, can't get my energy up to actually get any in depth writing done at the moment, which is why I have to take a break from all meaningful writing for a second and just ramble around a bit before getting back to topic, which I will, I promise. I'm just really tired from an entire day of writing, smoking, and watching TV. I think I might go and get a beer or two in order to get my creative flow going again. I'm at a huge turning point in my life that requires me to work more and more, but also to get more immersed in my writing, which is proving to be immensely tiring. I am currently watching the fourth (or fifth, I'm not sure) movie of the 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' series, eating, and getting annoyed at the lack of smoke-able material in my vicinity, which is an all in all crappy set-up for sleep. But I'm not remotely in the mood for an all-night writing and eating debacle, and will therefore lie down and at least try to get some sleep. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">...and I am awake again. Trying to sleep apparently did the trick this time, which is not as normal as it may sound, seeing as usually, when I try to sleep my brain really gets going and keeps me from sleeping for at least a couple of hours. But this time, I actually slept until the next morning right away, which is pretty awesome. And now, replenished and full of energy, I will get back to topic.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">What I was getting at is the way that those in power - at least those knowing that they are solely there for dubious reasons and harsh oppression that is - are using alleged mental illnesses and their treatment to keep those criticizing them silent and obedient, which is in itself such a morally fucked up thing to do. Broadening the definition of such illnesses to make room for those they want voiceless whilst taking the seriousness out of the sickness for those actually afflicted. Like the DSM-5 definition of the <b>Oppositional Defiant Disorder</b>, which reads like a blueprint to do away with troublemakers. There are, as always, people actually affected by this disorder that probably really do need treatment, but then again there are also those reasonably defiant that could just be dealt with by saying they have ODD and forcing so much pharmaceuticals into their bodies that they have no choice</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"> anymore</span> but to blindly follow the masses. Shit, I probably fulfill a lot of the criteria used to diagnose said illness. Ha. Maybe my next visit to a doctor will now land me in an asylum, and I'll go down in history as "that crazy guy who thought that mental sickness is used to keep people voiceless". Let it be noted for the record then, that I'm a hundred percent sure that I qualify for some psychological condition, but am equally sure that I am not impaired in my coherent lines of thought, and that the only reason for which I could possibly be locked up with actual lunatics is dissidence. And I know that that might seem very far-fetched - it actually does to me too - but unfortunately it is not as unlikely as it seems. There are people all over the world now rotting in cells that probably deemed that possibility equally absurd before it happened to them. It's hard to imagine really; you know you're sane, and you're put away with people also claiming to be, which you know they are not, but have no real way of proving the truthfulness of your claim over theirs... well... if you weren't insane prior to getting there, you will be after you've spent a bit of time in that kind of environment. Seriously, just thinking about it makes the manic streak in me quiver with eagerness to manifest itself. This certainly is a conundrum. How can we know who is institutionalized because of an actual illness, and who is just made out to be sick in order to be kept quiet? We cannot really, because there is a stigma inherent to our definition and treatment of those mentally ill that doesn't allow for an actual differentiation, which makes it easy for the pharmaceutical lobby - that works closely with the government (they spend about 800 million dollars on their lobbying and campaign financing... <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=H04&amp;year=a" target="_blank">this</a> and <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2005/07/07/5786/drug-lobby-second-none" target="_blank">this</a> confirm it)- to introduce medication and definitions for illnesses that do not necessarily aim at helping those afflicted by mental problems but rather at identifying and quietly disposing of any 'troublemakers'. Said lobbying and influence Big Pharma does and has in Washington are also the reason that efforts for legalizing weed have been yielding only meager results so far. But change is coming on despites their million-dollar campaigns, because the people are realizing the potential that the wonderful green herb has to offer, and if the government doesn't give in at some point they won't be able to keep the illusion of a people-ruled democracy up for much longer. But before I get lost in anti-prohibition ramblings again, I'll just put a stop to this post, I reckon I've made all the points I wanted to make when I started working on this mess.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> <br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Hm. Maybe there is one more aspect that needs highlighting after all, namely that of the common misconception that pharma industries are interested in curing you, because that's what their least priority is. After all, if you cure an illness, it's gone, and the patient won't need to come back; if you only treat the symptoms of an illness however, you can keep the patient on medication forever and force him to spend tons and tons of money on it. Plus there's always some side-effect to their poisonous little pills, which can of course be treated by yet another medicament. It's a vicious circle, really. Plus there have been reports of people that actually had cancerous cells in them, but never knew about it, and so didn't suffer from the disease; you heard that right, these people just did not get sick albeit technically having cancer. Same thing with AIDS. Our mind seems to be the main cause for our sickness, and if it never knows of a disease, the likelihood of that disease breaking out is close to zero. At least that's what I like to think, and there are some cases seemingly confirming this. What I am getting at with this tangent is that we're creating a society of over-medicated zombies, either on some prescription drugs to "make them normal again" or on some other prescription pills to "help with their disease". Both of which are of course necessary in some cases, but are clearly much too prevalent in society to still be exclusive to those needing them. We're being fooled here, and cannot possibly know to what extent, which is pretty fucked up to say the least. So, steer clear of medication unless you're sure you need it would be the main point to take away here. And now on to some good music. Selah.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br /><b><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Vance Joy - Riptide</span> </span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/uJ_1HMAGb4k/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/uJ_1HMAGb4k&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/uJ_1HMAGb4k&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I immensely enjoy this song. The guitar playing, the guy's angelic voice, the catchy chorus, and the sing-along melody just make this tune what I call a 'good-mood song', simply because it's one of those songs that just make you smile for no apparent reason, and that is pretty damn awesome. Plus the guy himself seems pretty laid back, you might want to check out the "Tram Sessions" version of this track; he sits down in a tram, and just starts playing this song on a ukulele, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me. Anyway, great song, cool guy, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Eagles - Hotel California</span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/h0G1Ucw5HDg?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Classic, well-known song that I somehow forgot to put on here so far, which is why it's here now. It's a great tune about the flip side of the American Dream, and the greed and decadence in the music industry, which are topics I really enjoy to begin with, and they were realized extremely well in these lyrics, plus are accompanied by really awesome music, which makes for an all in all amazing track, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Jamal - Keep It Real</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/FRSWsOUiVOE?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Here's an amazing track back from '95, when Hip Hop was still good. The album <i>Last Chance, No Breaks </i>on which this gem appeared was produce in cooperation with Erick Sermon from Def Squad, which is pretty awesome! This track is just really awesome and describes what rap nowadays lacks so much: the realness. And I'm not even one of those people that expect rappers to have eaten dirt half their lives before joining a gang by means of a bloody initiation ceremony prior to rapping. I just want those fake-ass bitches claiming to be hardcore to stop doing that, because it deludes the whole genre; if everyone's a gangster, no one really is. Anyway, awesome track, great MC, Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Masta Ace - Born To Roll</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/d2NqcWP8tos?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>&nbsp;</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Do I really need to say anything about this masterpiece? Masta Ace in his best form, way back in 1994, with awesome and funny lyrics</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">on a classic-ass beat. Just pure genius! Masta Ace has been there from the very start along with the big names like Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Rakime, and the like, and is as far as I've noticed way too underappreciated and sometimes even overlooked, which I cannot understand because he is a fucking genius! Anyway. Legendary MC, awesome beat, and great lyrics... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Passenger - Let Her Go (Kygo Remix)</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/I-dxEOYo3yo?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Let me start by saying that I have no idea what this genre is called. It sounds like very chill deep house to me, but I could be completely off with this. Anyhow. This is a great, extremely relaxing remix of the rather melancholic Passenger song, and it is one of the few remixes I actually prefer over the original, simply because it has this calmness in it that makes me want to lie down at a beach and enjoy the sunset, whereas the original song makes me want to slit my throat, figuratively speaking. But well, this version is really chill, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Flume - What You Need</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-zx6odbKMCw?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I've featured Flume on here a number of times already, and will keep on doing so because I fucking love what they do. It's somewhat of a new genre I think, I'd classify it as grimy chill trap or something like that, but I once again might be completely off with that definition. Anyhow, this is a grand piece of musical awesomeness, the vocals, and this tangy string instrument coupled with the chill, drawn-out bass is a treat for any ear trained to appreciate good music. Great artist, awesome tune, Enjoy!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b></b></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Well, this post is actually appearing within a reasonable time frame and is of adequate length; I must say I'm a little proud of myself in light of my continued work for Bassmania, my new freelance position at <a href="http://www.gonzotoday.com/" target="_blank">Gonzo Today</a>, where I have already submitted three articles successfully so far, and of course my <a href="http://www.shanghaianknowledge.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">new blog</a> on which I try and post quite regularly too. I'm all in all swamped in much voluntary writing work, and was therefore quite sure I wouldn't make my two week deadline, but I did.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">So, I hope you've enjoyed this post, and of course the selection of songs, which I think is especially nice today.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace! </span></div></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-36596851910703475452015-01-05T11:04:00.000+01:002015-01-16T15:22:24.180+01:002015 already?<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">The year 2014 really flew by, didn't it? It seems like I barely read the words "January 1st, 2014" on the screen</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">of my mobile phone, and all of a sudden I am back in Amsterdam celebrating the New Year 2015.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">And what a fucked up year 2014 was. We saw the outright demise of all things most of us used to take for granted, except of course those willing to question what they saw, because they had known all along; the CIA torture report, the NSA scandal, the rise of the originally US-financed ISIS, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. The fall of capitalism, the undermining of citizens' rights, excessive police brutality, fracking, free-trade agreements, increased fascism, Ebola, the revival of the Cold War, and of course the ever-lasting greed of mankind slowly propelling a small number of psychopaths into power whilst oppressing the rest of us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Ha. It seems like the developments of this year literally force me to rehash the same old topics again and again. It's just getting worse. I have heard so many stupid utterances by unreasonably powerful people this year that I see no way things are going to stay the way they are for much longer. We're on a slippery slope, heading straight to hell. People are getting pissed off at a system that is slowly beginning to show its rotten true face, slowly beginning to show that it is no longer upholding the values it was created to protect, slowly beginning to show that it is made up of greed, corruption, and egomania. Which is nothing new to a lot of people, but unfortunately not enough people feel the need to bring on changes. Of course there are protests and riots all around the globe, but they're always dismissed by force or rhetoric and therefore those who used to be in power remain in power, and the damn population still votes for those retarded fucks. I simply don't get how a majority of the people can actually vote for those that have proven again and again to be unable to represent the voters' will. And I'm not even talking about Obama here, he has done a few very good and a few very bad things, but the actual issue is the whole Democrat/Republican debacle; neither of them have remotely done what they claim to stand for. It's time to find an alternative. Same thing for Germany; the Christian-Democratic-Union coupled with so-called German-Social-Democratic-Party (they somehow forgot to include the whole "social" and "democracy" part</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">in their political policy) have been in power way too long, and the other parties don't really show any differences in their program either, so we're in somewhat of a rut. I can't emphasize the importance of change once again here.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But that's of course not remotely everything; we also saw the rise of a couple of cruel terrorist organizations (Hamas and ISIS), that both used to be US-financed, but then went rogue and started attacking America with its own weapons. Which has happened quite a number of times, and could have taught the US government long ago that funding renegade movements usually does not yield the results that they hope for, but apparently they're too stubborn to learn from their mistakes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Furthermore, we saw Russia being turned into the root of all evil once again by smart propaganda. I don't want to glorify Russia here, they have done some questionable up to downright horrific things in their time, and have some very conservative laws that do not really seem to fit in our time anymore, but they are not the main aggressor in the newest scenarios unfolding in Eastern Europe at the time. The NATO expansion to the East has been going on for a few decades now despite many critical voices from within the US government, and poking a sleeping bear with a stick will eventually get it to react. Russia reacted by "taking back" Crimea by means of a democratic referendum, which then sparked multiple movements also wanting to join Russia. And then the US just installed a new "democratic" government in Ukraine, of which some ministers are openly affiliated with major Nazi parties and networks! And now Europe is being entangled in some economic sanctioning scheme directed at the Russians, which is just stupid strategically. An alliance between Europe and Russia would be much more viable for both parties than a European-American partnership could ever hope to be. But thanks to Europe's head being so far up America's ass, we're facing a new Cold War that might actually turn hot this time, seeing as the propaganda is much more elaborate and the fronts are more hardened than ever.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Oh, and let's not forget the past few months which saw multiple unarmed African-Americans get shot, including a twelve year old child, by police men. For some cases the reports are obviously unclear, and I am not one to just generalize an entire group of people, but these cases show that racism is still much more present within the American everyday life than one would believe possible in the 21st century, and that it is an issue that still needs to be evaluated over and over. The war on drugs is partially responsible for this as well, mind you. There are less African-American than Caucasian drug users, yet there are more African-Americans rotting in jail cells for drug-related offenses. The profiling used by the DEA is clearly racist, and gives police an easy excuse to target ethnic minorities for strip searches, which obviously leads to those minorities feeling mistreated and unrepresented by those that should protect them and their rights, and that is something that cannot possibly stand! All citizens have to feel that all governmental organs are serving and protecting them, not just a few, otherwise the entire system of democracy and freedom doesn't mean shit.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">And finally, we also saw the Ebola virus cripple West Africa, and we saw just how short the attention span of the media is when it comes to an actual crisis. Ebola was in the news for a couple of months at best, and all of a sudden it disappeared. Not from Africa mind you, the people there are still suffering, and there are still people there trying to help, and funds are hopefully still going there too, but the media's attention just switched to more violent and sensational stories and completely started ignoring the virus it made out to be the "biggest epidemic of modern time" just a few months ago. It's ridiculous, really. And then those damn tunes that are made to "help" the affected regions by donating part of the profits to charity. I mean I don't disagree with the essence of these actions, but if you want to help the people, then just donate to some medical NGOs instead of buying a fucking song which will also make some musicians, producers, and label bosses even richer. The whole thing is just perfect promotion: crappy singers are selling millions because they appear in such songs, which is why these tunes are in themselves corrupted and used by those people to gain more fame than they deserve, and that is just pathetic. So yes to helping those regions crippled by Ebola, and no to phony charity song projects.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But of course there were not only bad things in 2014, there were quite a few personal highlights, and a few global things went quite well too. For example, the legal status of cannabis. Things improved quite drastically last year, and I am sure they will skyrocket in 2015: more and more states are thinking of legalization, Uruguay and Portugal have shown that liberal drug regulations are the right way to go, and there are more and more experts in all fields speaking up for the green plant. And in Germany there are now pro-legalization ads running in a couple of hundred cinemas all over the country, right before blockbusters like "The Hobbit". It has also been a good year in terms of the overall opinion on drug use generally. People that have been sworn enemies of the dreadful plague they believe psychoactive substances to be are now speaking for a more lenient approach, because many are starting to realize that prohibition is criminalizing the wrong people and allowing the actual criminals to make billions of dollars by being the only supplier for a gargantuan market. And those wrongly criminalized are branded as, well, criminals for life, and will always be looked upon with suspicion, and furthermore receive a 'training in crime' when imprisoned seeing as they are living in a confined space with all kinds of sick people, forced to join a gang in order to survive the time there. So a friendly pothead that got caught a few times too much goes to prison and comes out a hardened criminal with new knowledge on all kinds of illegal activities and not many perspective besides a gangster's life due to his criminal record, which he only got for being thrown in jail for burning some plants and inhaling the smoke.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I'm getting off topic. I told myself to do less rambling in these posts, and I'll try and stick to it a bit. I was talking about the general consensus on drugs slowly drifting towards a more lenient approach that focuses on education and emancipation of drug users rather than their wrongful criminalization. We're not there yet, not by a long shot, but we're seeing the first signs, the first underground tremors of an earthquake that will eventually spawn a tsunami of reforms regarding psychoactive substances, and it's nice to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. And of course there's always the usual suspects trying to hinder that development, but it's somewhat like Domino; once the first piece falls, all others will follow. And I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'm sure it will happen, and I guarantee that the world will be a better place for it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyway. There's also some personal highlights this year that I would like to share with you: I am more and more sure of needing to get the fuck away from studying, and rather focus on finally starting to build my own career, on my own terms, and not in some goddamn company where I work so that my boss can make tons of money, just so that I can retire when I'm seventy and "enjoy" my few years of lousy retirement. Hell no. I'm thinking of signing up for an online degree in freelance journalism, expanding my blogs, work freelance, do some small jobs to make ends meet, and get back to Asia, preferably Shanghai. I can't take the European way of life. People here have so little ambition, they cannot think outside the box; it's school, study, work, marry, retire, die, and I can simply not do that! And the mentality of the population, especially Germany, is so fucking apathetic, it's unbearable! Everything is stagnating, everybody is afraid to do their own thing and take risks, all everyone wants is diplomas, jobs, security and routine, and that just pisses me the fuck off!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">I wasn't born to pay bills, I was not born to work for some rich ass-wipe! I want to travel, learn, write, see things, just fucking live, and not merely exist, and seeing the people at university and all round me just existing, essentially wasting their lives on some bullshit diplomas so they can work for other people, never leave their home country (except for the obligatory trip to Majorca every year), and at some point just slowly rot on their couches living off their lousy retirement funds, really makes me sick to my stomach and drains my energy up to a point where merely existing doesn't seem all that bad anymore. Shanghai is just so much different from that, most people there are there to make their dreams come true, to live out the American Dream in its original essence, to truly live and make an impact on the world. Shanghai is where things are happening, Asia generally is, and I don't see any reason to miss out on that. I love writing, I love Shanghai, I love Asia, and I don't see why I should not at least try to tailor my life to suit these passions in a way that I can still make ends meet and live comfortably. Which is why I am seriously contemplating making some money until the end of the academic year, then leaving the rotten village I am currently living in, quitting the studies I don't enjoy anyways, and going to Shanghai on a student visa to just do my thing and try to build an existence doing what I enjoy. And if that doesn't work I can always go back to studying seeing as I have the advantage of being young. I still have a good chunk of my life ahead of me, and I've always lived by the maxim of not ever regretting not having tried something I think could enjoy, so I just need to get off my ass and finally make things happen. No more working to get a diploma, no more learning things I have absolutely no interest in, just hard work to get to my goals, and then enjoying the fruits my labor will hopefully yield.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I don't want to bore you with details of my plans for the future any longer. It's getting late, and I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'll just add the music in the morning and post this thing by evening. Few is really left to say, except that I wish all of you reading this a happy New Year, and I really hope that whatever you're trying to do, whatever things it is you set to accomplish, that you succeed at all of it, and that things turn out for the best. Selah.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Dilated Peoples - You can't hide, you can't run</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yo-OfQ3VQWw?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>&nbsp;</b>-&gt; This is pure old school right here! Such an epic tune with an awesome beat and the amazing artists of Dilated Peoples filling the track with great, meaningful rap, it's hard not to love it! Plus the beat is such a neck-breaking piece of awesomeness, that, coupled with aforementioned rap, you cannot not listen when this bad boy is played, so...Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Marco Polo feat. Masta Ace - Nostalgia</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CbsmAPSDxfk?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' />&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; And here is one more track that is old school as fuck! The legendary Masta Ace together with Marco Polo and a scratched-up sampled beat that underlines the funky awesomeness of this tune simply deliver their message straight to the heart of any real Hip Hop head! And the rhyming is mind-boggling too; "People in the audience, Masta Ace the name/ I write rhymes and insert them inside your vein/ They run through your bloodstream, get inside you brain/ 'Cause I first put my name up inside the train/"! If that's not fucking awesome, I don't know what is, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Jack Johnson - Good People</b></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>&nbsp;</b>&nbsp;</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hxuCLopcEy4?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; This is just such a true song on so many levels. Firstly, the number of people I would deem 'good' is actually receding, at least here in Central Europe, and that song expresses just that. Secondly, the good people have mostly disappeared from TV and the news, simply because yellow journalism has become the norm, and the tragic stories of murderers and rapists attract a much larger, more easily sensationalized crowd than stories of the good neighbor who helped get kitty down the tree, and so they're the ones that make the newscast. Which is sad. We shouldn't constantly be shown the bad people, because that creates a negative sentiment in the population, and that just sucks. But anyway, this is a really cool song, so... Enjoy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Warren Zevon - Keep me in your heart for a while</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/RMTKb-pgxGI?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' />&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; A beautiful Warren Zevon song right here. This is the kind of timeless music that would fit at any given occasion, ranging from birthday to funeral. Zevon just has that exceptional voice and is in essence a great musician, which makes his songs so amazing! I really, really enjoy this song, it has this strangely positive vibe to it that coupled with the melancholy in the lyrics makes for an interesting ride. Enjoy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>Spag Heddy - Pastanian Express</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wJiEqYjWlgQ?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' />&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&amp;&gt; "THIS IS PASTA", orgasm-inducing drop, melody, more pasta. That's pretty much what this pure bit of Drumstep filth has to offer, and it does not disappoint in the least! This song has an awesome melodic part, coupled with such epic drops and funny, well-used vocals! I really enjoy Spag Heddy's work, and this one is no exception! Awesome tune, great artist! Enjoy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><b>KDrew - Bullseye&nbsp;</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3r7-g5fOF2c?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' />&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Wow! Just wow. This is one of those fucking filthy tracks that you stumble across every few months or so at best! A great melody brought on by those wobbly high-pitched notes, entangled in a maze of amazing bass and drops, fused into four minutes and ten seconds of musical awesomeness and pure energy, propelling those listening to push on and go forward! I fucking love this kind of music, this is why I always include electronic music on here! Epic track, amazing artist... Enjoy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">So, this concludes today's entry, which turned out to be a whole of a lot longer than I had expected it to be, but seeing as I think I have touched on some interesting issues it should still be manageable as readers. Oh, and you have probably seen the changes that I have made to the blog: layout and theme has been altered entirely, and I have decided to embed the actual video for the selection of songs at the end of each post, which I think will be much easier on you guys' eyes, and make the whole page more attractive to potential readers. But the entries will remain the way they always have been, I have no reason to change the way I convey my message on here entirely!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this post, liked today's musical selection, and that there are some things in this entry that you can take away for your own life, you know the deal...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace! </span></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-54711928810752435612014-12-14T18:55:00.000+01:002014-12-14T18:55:26.784+01:00Food For Thought #6<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Well, I haven't written a FFT segment in quite a while, so I figured that it's about time, and with Christmas coming up, I also figure that I'll be able to find some new, or at least rehash some old, topics. It's always the same shit around Christmas anyway, isn't it? I mean, I personally endorse the notion of compassion and altruism around the time Christians believe Christ to have been born, but what bugs me about it is that for some people, it is truly the only time of year in which they feel it necessary to exhibit these values, and that is sad.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Now of course there is nothing wrong with reserving the biggest acts of charity for the time of togetherness that is Christmas, but if you're acting like an asshole all year long and then want to repent and fully redeem yourself by acting nice around Christmastime, you remain an asshole, and no amount of Christmas cheer is going to change that. I hate the way some fucked-up souls try and exploit that time of giving to put themselves in a position that radiates phony sentiments of understanding and compassion, and I loathe those buying into it all the same, because they are the ones perpetuating the idea that having a jaunty Christmas persona can even out any and all fuck-ups committed by the actual person throughout the year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But this is just for your personal understanding of my feeling towards Christmas-y things. The topic for today's Food For Thought is another one, and it is once again related to corporations and their excessive influential powers. The example that comes to mind today are the free trade agreements that are being discussed and struck behind closed doors - with the obvious exception being lobbyist of various multinational firms. TTIP is the EU-US version of such an agreement, and its - along with any other of these atrocities, like TISA and CETA - core component is the elimination of non-tariff related boundaries for foreign investors. Sounds like a nice, globalization kind of thingy, doesn't it? Well, let me illustrate the gravity of allowing companies and their investors to dispose of any and all boundaries that hinder their economic thriving: If your commune decides to banish fracking in your area due to the extreme environmental hazards, any foreign company can sue your country's government for the profit they reckon they would have made if they had been allowed to pollute your area, which is usually a sum in the hundreds of millions. Oh, but it doesn't stop at that; should the government in question not want to pay, or is unable to pay, they have the option of abolishing the law or regulation in question in order to allow the company to freely make their money by whatever means they see fit. And it's not even an actual court that rules over these things, but rather a private arbitrary court made up of three volunteers, usually also tied to some major enterprise. This means that anything one would associate with a social, democratic state will essentially be put to the test: Healthcare (if you're not in America obviously) will be privatized, environmental policies reversed, laws abolished, regulation of the financial market (Dodd-Frank) pulverized, educational system also privatized, even the water supply will eventually be run by privately-owned companies. Non-tariff related boundaries are the things that protect us, the citizens from the endless greed of corporations. Non-tariff related boundaries are human rights, employee rights, environmental policies, minimum wages, state-run water supply and transportation; these are the things that stand in the way of companies making as much money as they possibly could, and are as such targeted by free trade agreements such as TTIP.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Fucked up, isn't it? And for those defending this agreement, look at what NAFTA did to the Mexican economy, to Mexico generally. A run-down economy, a drug-cartel-controlled government, and people fleeing the country to work as illegals in the US because they can't find any work to make ends meet... I think the facts speak for themselves; these agreements are geared to exploit the population in the name of large corporations and their holy grail of capitalism, and are a huge assault on democracy and freedom as we know it, which is why we need to stand up to this shit! Go on the streets and picket, let your neighbors, your family, your friends, let everyone know about the degree to which this will influence your daily life and abolish the freedoms our ancestors fought so hard to gain! I want to get people riled up about this seeing as such a deliberate and direct attack on democracy cannot stand.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But well, it's not like this is anything entirely new; corporations have always tried to exploit people by using them as assets rather than actual human beings, politicians have always been bribed by these firms and therefore acted at their bidding, and the population has always just fucking stood there and accepted it. Always is a gross exaggeration though, there have been - and are - quite a few uprisings against this system,a few people have always - here it is again - tried to rebel against a political landscape that has/is tried/trying to keep those unwilling to conform voiceless. But in the end, it doesn't even matter. At least that's what it seems like. I see no changes. It's just the way it fucking is, and that pisses me off. But what's worse is that I am also perpetuating this placid status quo: I get and spend money, I have a bank account that is regularly overdrawn, I study International Business for Christ's sake, and I am a generally pacifistic, borderline apathetic person to begin with, so not a revolutionary per se. I also don't think that the change necessarily needs - or even should be - brought on by means of force and violence. The system won't budge if we try to fight its brutality with ours, we can clearly see that in any and all protests happening lately: people are just being shot down, sprayed with tear gas, beaten with sticks, and pushed down by shield-wielding almost-soldiers, like they used to do in China. I reckon the US is going to start using tanks on civilians in a few years tops too. Like the German army that has now gotten the authorization to handle inner conflicts, i.e. they are now allowed to assist the police if people should actually decide to revolt. Isn't that just fucking awesome?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyhow. Maybe the change needs to brought on from within, maybe compassion coupled with subtle manipulation is key to reforming this dated system of madness and greed, maybe there is a way free of carnage and bloodshed, maybe there is hope. But I am by no means a political expert of any kind, nor am I in any position to actually influence anything of major importance. Yet, I do have a voice that I intend to use until someone shuts me up for good, and I hope that it is heard by some of you, and entices you to start using your voice as well! Which brings me to a final atrocious, scandalous, unspeakable act the EU-commission has had the nerve to commit: an alliance in Germany has collected signatures against TTIP, and gotten up to a million, which they handed in for the commission to consider, and you know what those cocksuckers had the guts to fucking do? They're suing. They're actually suing against signatures by citizens, they're suing against the people's will, and are thereby clearly proving whose side their on. I'll give you a hint, it's not ours. <span class="st">QED. Selah.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">So, I hope you've enjoyed this somewhat short and belated Food For Thought segment, which I haven't done in quite a while, but I like to have one or at most two very related topics for these things, and that is usually quite hard. Some posts will start out as a FFT, but later changed into a regular post because they jumped around too many topics without ever going into greater detail. Which is not something I personally dislike, but it is not fit for a FFT segment, because that is something I like to use to get you to consider a single aspect of life or the world or whatever in its entirety so as to form your own opinion on it. Although I have to admit that my rant on TTIP here is biased and very one-sided, there are enough corporate plugs who'll sell you all kind of advantages, so if you want to hear both sides, go listen to any of them. They'll give you shiny numbers that can usually be disproved or put into actual context by doing just a tiny bit of research. So, if you feel you need both sides on this issues, go and let those in favor of TTIP paint their picture for you, but don't forget to find out what the colors and brush are really made of. In this light, I'll leave you be with some good music:</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0C_yPcJzYo" target="_blank">Smif-N-Wessun - Wreckonize</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; I don't really need to say much to this, do I? 'Just The Two Of Us' sample that was awesomely used here, amazing artists on a legendary track; good, old Hip Hop like it's supposed to be, lyrically way up there and still chill as fuck. So, you better wreckonize, and... Enjoy!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opWYnUpNtG8" target="_blank">Crooklyn Dodgers 95 - Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; Well, once again, not much need be said here; awesome artists (Masta Ace, O.C., etc..), great beat, amazing lyrics! Once again one of the songs that remind me of how great Hip Hop used to be, of how fucking awesome music was back in the days, of how much I have missed for having been born too late, and just generally of how much I adore good music! Enjoy!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpVUMuLLqug" target="_blank">Saint Vitus - Born Too Late</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; Whilst writing the above caption, I was reminded of this song, so I decided to put it on here. This is an old doom metal tune that I've really enjoyed for a few years, then completely forgotten about it, and rediscovered it a few months ago... Well, it's a pretty cool song, so... Enjoy!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEoSpIcncVg" target="_blank">Black Sabbath - Crazy Train</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; Well what can I say, I'm just feeling the classics today! This song is from the Osbourne-era of Sabbath. I personally think that Ronnie was the better vocalist, but hey, Ozzy has his advantages too, and this song proves just that; an awesome, testosterone-laden riff, amazing vocals, and just an overall crazy greatness within the song make for a veritable classic piece of Rock'n'Roll history...Enjoy!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsueeeEGKMc" target="_blank">Skream vs. Distance - Political Warfare</a>&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; Since I'm doing classics today, I figured that this song definitely belongs on here, this is an old-school dubstep track from July 2007, and it is pretty fucking awesome to say the least. It's got this simplistic, chill feeling to it that just speaks to me somehow. I really enjoy the use of samples and the wobble in the void of this basic yet musically fascinating and complex tune. Enjoy!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrRcEfulv3U&amp;index=3" target="_blank">Digital Mystikz - Earth A Run Red</a>&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">-&gt; And here goes yet another classic, this time by Digital Mysitkz, and I have to say that this tune is pretty damn great! It has this nice underlying rhythm to it that remains prevalent throughout most of the song, yet manages to adapt itself ever so slightly to create a musical excellence the likes of which are rarely seen anymore. Anyhow, great song, awesome artists...Enjoy!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">Well, this post is slightly delayed again, I know, but I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to actually making my deadline again. Plus I've had my birthday quite recently, and was a bit busy flying straight up to the sky for a day or so. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the post and the selection of music, I am really feeling the old classics lately, and that will reflect itself increasingly on the selection of songs here, which I hope all of you will enjoy! So, I'll try and make the next deadline in two weeks from now, and wish you nice holidays and a merry Christmas already! I'm not sure if I'll manage to cram in another post before Christmas eve, but we'll see...</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span class="st">Peace! </span></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-64472333068935734602014-11-30T19:01:00.000+01:002014-11-30T21:05:11.061+01:00Some stones are better left unturned<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">if you don't want to see their parasite-ridden underside, that is. But isn't that parasitic abscess, normally hidden from the eye, as much part of the stone as its polished, usually visible surface? Why would one not want to know of that aspect? Because it is much easier to tolerate a pretty rock than the rotting remains of one, I suppose. And as long as you can fool yourself into ignoring the ugly mess below the surface, you will be sure that the stone's underside is akin to, if not an exact replica of, the visible part. Which is exactly what's going on in so many forms in our world: ugly truths are flipped so as to make them radiate positively, and the public at large would much rather see and believe the pretty illusion than dig down to the fucked up crux of the matter and see the shit that's really going on. </span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I'm not going to get into the aspect of mass-media-manipulation that is inherent to the issues at hand quite yet. I'll start with another aspect, namely the personal auto-deception many of us - including me - are falling victim to, which is in itself just a pathetic little&nbsp;charade our brain is playing with our minds. Let's take myself as an example: these past weeks have been horrible; I stayed up too long, smoked too much, slept too little, and did not eat enough. Yet I, our rather my demented cerebrum, have - has - somewhat managed to press the notion that I am actually feeling and living quite well to the very front of my cerebral lobes, thereby deluding myself - me - to a shudder-inducing degree. Of course I realize that I am just fooling myself - hence this post - but the inevitability of falling in the traps of auto-deceit has come weighing down upon me in the interim leading up to this realization, and that is something I have always striven to avoid: the loss of control, or rather the lack of realization in my thinking. But that might be a rather melodramatic way of portraying things after all. In the end, it's not like deceiving yourself leads to a complete loss of coherent thought. It does however, lead to you essentially misjudging yourself and the things happening to you, which might lead to self-neglect, as it has happened to me. I am just not taking care of myself lately, I feel. Although I am doing sports each and every morning, and have cut down on all chemical psychoactive substances, I know that I could do a lot of things a lot better: I could, for example, start going to classes again; I could eat more and go to bed early, and I could just not smoke any cigarettes. The problem here is that I simply do not feel like it. I don't even see any actual reason to do so, which is weird because I know that there are plenty. Shit, it's like I have this reasonable side that's compelled to drastically alter the way I go about living my life right now, but on the other hand I also have this fuck-you-all-side that tells me to just keep doing what I like until I find something actually productive that I enjoy doing. I'm guessing that neither of those ways is going to make me happy though. It's as always going to be a compromised middle between the both of them that will make for a comfortable ride. But this tangent is not entirely relevant to the topic to be honest. What I was getting to is actually the auto-deceit and its power within human nature: we like thinking that everything is fine, and our brains are stupid enough to produce endorphins as soon as we decide to like something, meaning that deceiving yourself into believing you're feeling fine will eventually make you feel fine, simply because our brains are primitive as fuck when it comes to emotions. Which is in all likelihood also the reason why I'm not enticed to change my way of living right now; I have gotten so used to it that my brain is now producing endorphins where it would have made me aware of misery just a few weeks ago. And that is the actual danger of deceiving yourself: at some point deceit turns into belief and then into conviction, meaning that tricking yourself into feeling a certain way might ultimately result in you actually feeling that way in similar situations from that point on. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it might lead to weird up to downright questionable behavior in some cases.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But enough of this. What I haven't gotten into yet is the aspect of the mass-media, which have degenerated into filthy, smut-ridden, propaganda-spewing, war-instigating, government-controlled, brainwashing little puppets. Facts are being misrepresented, people are being misquoted, one-sided and biased reporting has become the norm, and all just to create a new common enemy, to distract the population from the dying economy, to distract the people from the failure of capitalism, to distract us from the evils of free market and the privatized bank system. And no, I am not a communist although the previous sentences might suggest that to some, I don't like to think in terms of political orientation to be honest, I just like to think logically; and logically speaking, you cannot possibly rationalize the free market capitalism any longer. It has failed. The middle class is essentially gone, the poor are getting poorer, and the rich have isolated themselves with their own schools and their own fenced-off and guarded compounds. And yet politicians are still in favor of not taxing these people more heavily. And yet politicians are still not doing anything about companies taking away public money (taxes) by "smart geographical re-distribution of their returns", ergo taking them to Luxemburg, Cayman Islands, etc. Companies are officially bragging about evading taxes, and nothing is being done about it. That money could have gone into better education, new infrastructure; it could have been used for public needs. But instead, it went into the pockets of those that already have more digits on their bank accounts than words are able to express. Is anyone upset by this? Yes, many people are. Are governments taking serious steps to address this problem? You bet your sweet ass they don't. They're profiting from it too! Oh, and of course there's proof to all of this: you may check the "panama corporate database", and you will see for yourselves, which names are registered there; and for Germany, you can check the annual report of the "Commerzbank", in which they pat themselves on the back for having evaded taxes. Mind you, this bank was saved by German taxpayers' money, and now they're refusing to pay theirs? That is just fucked up. And again, the government is not doing anything about it.</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But I drifted off-topic there. The media are turning things around. For example, Russia is made out to be the root of all evil lately. Now of course, Russia is not a great example of a peaceful, non-militarized state, no-one is going to deny that. But still, the US is equally aggressive, and the greatest war instigator of this century, and they're not being criticized as heavily for their actions in the whole Ukraine debacle. Fact of the matter is, the NATO has promised the Russians long ago that they would not expand eastwards, and yet they did. A step that former US Secretary Of Defense Robert McNamara, amongst more than forty former senators, cabinet secretaries and ambassadors, heavily criticized in an open letter to president Clinton. So, naturally, Russia is going to feel threatened and try to extend its sphere of influence as well. And please don't be so naive as to think that 'Russia doesn't have to fear the NATO expansion as long as it behaves', because that is just bullshit. Tell that to the bombed remains of Syria and Algeria. Anyway. I am not condoning Russia's behavior either, but it's not like they're the main aggressor we need to be afraid of. The foreign policies of NATO states have actually revived the dead and buried corpse of the Cold War. People that have lived to see the actual Cold War are reminded of the anti-Russian propaganda from back then when watching the news today. And that already says quite a lot if you ask me. Selah.&nbsp;</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Well, this entry took quite some time to finish once again, but well, as long as it's still November I have managed to keep my promise of posting twice a month, which is something. But I am really eager to write some more in the future, and I hope I will succeed at doing so. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this post and that it has shown you some things. I don't want you to rely on anything you read here though, especially not when it comes to political things: do some research and develop your own opinion! Just be sure not to stop your research at the first source you find, and be sure to use sources from both sides, so that you can form your own differentiated opinion on it.&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But enough preaching for today, here's some good music for you:</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQNidZ2AEXY" target="_blank">The Hieroglyphics - You Never Know</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I've recently rediscovered The Hieroglyphics, and cannot believe how I could not have gotten into them a lot more way earlier! Amazing old-school Hip Hop, awesome beat, great flows, deep message, and just all in all mind-boggling. I love this kind of Hip Hop most, and will probably just stick to that for all songs in this post, so sorry to all non-Hip Hop fans out there! Anyway, great tune, legendary artists, 'nuff said!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BONgL61snlM" target="_blank">Pete Rock &amp; CL Smooth - They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Another amazing song, I am not sure if I haven't featured it on here before though, if that is the case please let me know!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Anyhow, this track is just so insanely great, the jazzy samples, the raw beat, the inspiring vocals, everything! Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG5La6k6eTI" target="_blank">The Hieroglyphics feat. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - At The Helm</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Awesome fucking song! Deep message, amazing flows, raw old-school beat; this tune has everything I love about Hip Hop incorporated into its cocoon of greatness! </span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"Rap ain't about bustin caps and fuckin bitches. It's about fluency with rhymin ingenuity"....Enjoy!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co3qMdkucM0" target="_blank">The Pharcyde - Drop</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Legendary artists, awesome song, and a great video, that was actually shot with them walking backwards and then reversed to make it look they're going forward, hence their "goofy" way of walking as on YouTube commentator put it. Anyhow, amazing track that definitely needed featuring on here, so... Enjoy!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0xDGXotGIE" target="_blank">Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - If You Must</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; "It's important to practice good hygiene, at least if you want to run with my team!" A song about cleaning yourself properly! Funny topic, realized amazingly well by Del, and just all in all a great tune that you'll definitely... Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnc-oh2aKo0" target="_blank">The Pharcyde - Pandemonium</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; From the Street Fighter soundtrack from 1994, as you can see in the video description. Still, this song takes me back, used to love that movie, and the track in itself is also close to perfection, amazing flows, dope beat, and all in all real old-school Hip Hop that I love! Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">This post turned out to be a bit shorter than I had expected, but well, at least it's appearing within a reasonable time-frame. Plus I have to say that I am quite happy with what I wrote here, and hope that it is as enjoyable for you to read this as it was for me to write it. I'll try to write more regularly in the future, but I've said that so often by now that this promise has somewhat lost its value. So, not minding the redundancy, I hope that his post holds some truths or values for you, that it entices you think a bit, you know the deal.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Peace! </span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-66439910830508781762014-11-04T13:28:00.000+01:002014-11-04T13:28:39.506+01:00I was going to<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">write another Food For Thought segment where these words are standing. But well, I started writing about my inability of finding a topic, and realized that nothing much would come out of trying to think up some grand truth that I could lay on you, simply because I could not think of anything. So I decided to erase the paragraphs that stood here and replace them by a bunch of meaningless rambling and ranting. Not utterly meaningless perhaps, but probably quite close to it seeing as I can not for the life of me figure out where all my "knowledge" about things went. "Knowledge" is between quotation marks because I am not talking about my experience or education - neither of which have decreased - but rather about my opinionated thoughts about things, which have apparently receded. Some might see that as an improvement, for reasons that need not saying, but I personally think that it is an alarming sign of accepting the placid status quo as an inevitability. It is an alarming sign of not questioning the tidal waves of crap life's so eager to swamp you with anymore. It is just generally alarming to me that I am not as enticed to develop an opinion about any topic at all as I was just a few months, hell, a few weeks ago. I mean nothing happened in that time-frame. Ha. Maybe that's the crux of the matter: nothing happened! I can literally say that these past weeks have been the most sluggish weeks of most weeks I can remember. And given my usual heavy intake of sluggish-makers that's something. Well, come to think of it, the weeks in themselves haven't even been as dull as the previous sentence suggests, I mean, I went to university quite regularly, I had tons of useless shit to take care of in terms of insurance-related issues, and of course my landlord's inability to do anything, but still I feel that there's an underlying lack of action in everything happening at the moment. Or rather a lack of action that would call for my involvement -- mentally or physically -- or even interest me for that matter.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">And I am once again far behind deadline, I know, but the reasons are much more tangible than usually: I was working. Well, some might not call it working, but my going to parties and reporting on them is an activity that actually produces a large mental (and at times physical) workload. Why physical you ask? Because I am not an asshole and help with the set-up of the parties I attend for journalistic purposes. But well, being swamped in writing work is not really an excuse for not writing, is it? To some extent it is of course, I mean, after having to write all day I usually feel drained of creativity and energy, but seeing as writing is also a hobby of mine, I should be able to use this platform on which I can write whatever the fuck I please to unwind. Which I am fortunately able to do to a certain degree, but not as intensely as I would like to, meaning that I always reach a point of complete exasperation because I become unable to think of any words to use or topics to write about. It's annoying really, wanting to become a writer of sorts and constantly running out of topics, therefore having to resort to void-filling paragraphs like this one.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Still, I am even further behind deadline by now, ergo in dire need of completing this meaningless mess, and hopefully produce some form of interesting thoughts in the process. I have to admit that my intense involvement in various writing activities is taking its toll on my creativity - I feel more often drained of thought than not, and albeit knowing that I am essentially reiterating what I have already said earlier, I still need to say that I am having a hard fucking time coming up with things to form sentences about. And the worst thing about it is the utter senselessness in most things I am coerced to write, such as fictional business proposals for university. I mean why the hell do I need to do that? I know how to write something using professional business language and formatting, and if I didn't I'd just google it. For Fuck's sake, we live in the age of info-saturation. Can't we just stick to doing things you can't learn online as easily? Isn't that why I'm enrolled for these damn studies anyway? Although I have to say I am getting more and more doubts about the entire system of businesses, and therefore my motivation is dwindling as quickly as my faith in humanity. Which sucks, because studying is not free, meaning that I am essentially wasting money there. But well, I still cling to my idea of having a diploma that will qualify me for a "nice" corporate job that I might need to take to make ends meet if I cannot get my foot in the door of the journalistic field. Not a great motivator, I know, but it has really become the last reason for me to stick with it and not throw the towel and say "Fuck it, and fuck you, I'll just write from now on". That is really a thought that makes me shiver with eager excitement, but, alas, I am in no position to quit my education quite yet, and will of course refrain from doing so until I am, if I'll ever be. And if I won't, I can still do some soul-sucking corporate shit job until I retire, at which point I'll probably be quite close to a corpse already, and spend my remaining couple of years in some shitty-ass retirement home where I'll die sad, alone, and all in all miserable. Great outlook, ain't it? On the other hand, my cynical streak might be taking over here. But then again, it might not, and I don't think it is to be honest: the business life is an ugly mess that sells souls, destroys lives, and fucks the planet in the ass without using any form of lubricant, ripping the poor world's sphincter to a bloody, canyon-like stripe. Hm. Not my best metaphor, but it works I guess. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is the well-know but too often forgotten or overlooked aspect of corporations: their political influence and power. Without businesses,&nbsp;the entire system of working, buying, and consuming would crumble, which is one of the reasons why&nbsp;they are&nbsp;propelled&nbsp;into a powerful position that allows them to actually control world politics to a&nbsp;angst-inducing degree. The other reason is money, as always. Most banks are private corporations, even the&nbsp;Federal Reserve Bank is, and they're the ones printing the&nbsp;American money, meaning that there is a private organization in charge of one of the world's&nbsp;most-used currencies. And if that's not frightening as&nbsp;fuck, I don't&nbsp;know what is.&nbsp;It doesn't stop at banks though, the evilest motherfuckers are the ones running the&nbsp;large pharma industries. It is better for them to treat patients instead of curing them, it is better for them to develop medicine that has side-effects that need to&nbsp;be combated&nbsp;using yet another one of their&nbsp;satanic little pills, and it is better for them to keep the current system&nbsp;of prohibition of psychoactive substances running, simply because it generates tons of money for them. I mean, look at the system:&nbsp;someone gets caught using drugs, and is forced into a probational rehab, meaning he'll have to take a piss-test every other week or so. Now, guess who gets paid for each and every evaluation of said piss. Right&nbsp;you are, the pharma industry it is. If drugs were to be&nbsp;legalized, they'd lose two of their major income streams: Harmful medication for cancer, MS and&nbsp;chronic pain&nbsp;among&nbsp;others&nbsp;(could all be replaced by weed), and aforementioned&nbsp;laboratory-piss-tests. So they'd rather set all hell in motion before letting&nbsp;that happen, and they have ample resources to do so, much more than the&nbsp;average citizens could ever hope to have. We're in a state of submission here, because we don't have the financial means&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;to bribe politicians like&nbsp;Big Pharma does, which is&nbsp;a horrid perversion of any and all democratic principles that the governments are sworn to uphold. Or so we're told... I'm really not buying it anymore. We're slaves to their money, slaves to their work, slaves to their education, slaves to their pharmaceutical poison, and slaves to our watches, which are in turn slaves to their definition of time. I mean, just&nbsp;what the hell is going on in this puked-up&nbsp;mess of a planet? It has become an accepted fact that most media are being fed and are therefore feeding us lies of corporations and politicians that twist the truth up until it is not even remotely recognizable anymore. It has become an accepted fact that politics are geared to keep us voiceless, politicians mere puppets, and corporations the puppeteers. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">And I know that these are points I have already made a billion times since the creation of this blog, but god fucking damn it, it seems like people are still not even starting to get it, and that just saddens me. There are so many people who're working their asses off in order to get some change for the better into this crazy messed-up world, but their fight is just ignored, because most people are not feeling uncomfortable per se. They've got their basic needs, and that's all they concern themselves with. Why fight for freedom if you can watch "Teen Moms"? Why slay the oppressors, when "Wheel Of Fortune" is running? Why get out of our damn comfort zone and start getting in the face of the lying scumbags we're being told to respect, when our comfort zone is so much more cozy? Well, if you can live with governmental organs controlling every step you take, rummaging through your personal life like it was a garage sale, and slowly suppressing free speech in the name of "national security", then just stay on your couch and rot there whilst choking on a bagel. Because apparently, that's what the once great American Dream has receded to: fast-food and trash-TV. Great job. Ideals blown to smithereens by the rapid outbreak of stupidity that has taken hold of the twenty-first century for whatever reason, principles long forgotten due to the saturation of bullshit swamping television sets, and values buried six-feet-under because they were too hard to uphold in this media-induced storm of lying cocksucker's fallacious opinions. But Fuck It, I say. Just opt out of the entire thing. Make your money there, make sure they don't get all up in your shit, and then leave them to go and live your life in a way that makes you happy, in a way that lets you indulge in the things you want, in a way that truly reflects the original ideals of the American Dream, in a way that truly exudes freedom, in a way that truly defies their&nbsp;restrictive dogmas, rules, and expectations.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">I have seen a lot of shit going down lately though, so talking about taking freedoms here in the "civilized Western world" might seem misplaced vis-à-vis the ISIS, Hamas, CIA, and what-not to some, but I must strenuously disagree with these people, for it has happened far too often that a common scapegoat, a shared enemy, and/or a mutual fear is (are) used to insidiously push hatred-stirring propaganda onto unsuspecting, fearful buffoons. The pushing of course being done by the usual suspects: the forces of the cruel Old &amp; Evil - stale, stubborn, and surprisingly stupid as always - and the misguided energy of the brainwashed Young &amp; Nasty, combined in a filthily decaying mixture of bad Karma, wasted breaths, rotten morals, and violent nonsense. These are the stepping stones paving the way to a literal hell-hole of a planet inhabited by morally-bankrupted, justice-raping, soul-sucking reaper-like creatures, craving for the deception of each and any innocent Pollyanna still staggering through the burned-out ruins of what used to be society, of what used to be of moral value, of what used to be life...</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Anyway. I am getting nowhere new with this, and I am so insanely fucking far behind deadline that I see no sense whatsoever in trying to keep going, which is why I will leave it be. Now I know that this post is rehashing quite a few topics you should be familiar with by now, but well, I can't shake the feeling that a little emphasis every once in a while is quite useful, seeing as most people are still not getting anything of what I am trying to convey here. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this extremely delayed -- for which I want to apologize once again at this point -- post, I'll go back to posting approximately every other week again, and leave you be with some good music for now:&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQYw49saqc" target="_blank">Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; "I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad. I've got sunshine in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. My future's coming on" Such a great song, featuring the legendary Del Tha Funky Homosapien, and just overall amazing. Love the good, bad &amp; ugly style in the song and the video, love the melody, love the vocals, and I absolutely adore the hook! All in all a great track sung by great artists that definitely had to be featured on here, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYxAiK6VnXw" target="_blank">Outkast - Ms. Jackson</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; "I'm sorry Miss Jackson, I am for reeeaaal. Never meant to make your daughter cry, I apologized a trillion times" Great artists, classic tune. 'nuff said!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pls_luhVdAw" target="_blank">Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; "Love forever, love is free..." I'm really feeling Gorillaz today, and, being one of their most famous songs, this gem had to be featured on here as well. A great track, with an epic feature by De La Soul, and an overall music awesomeness accompanying this grand piece fused with social criticism and an amazing lead singer, and well, the music video is pretty cool too, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdI2iC-sYY" target="_blank">Gorillaz - November Has Come</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Here goes yet another Gorillaz song, and it also awesome. I hadn't gotten into the group much so far, but I am discovering quite a few great songs by them, and will keep on posting these discoveries here. Their singer, the same guy that sings for Blur by the way, has an angelic voice, and their cooperation with many famous Hip Hop acts make for very interesting tunes that cross the boundaries of traditional genres to create new musical excellence, which is a great thing to see, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2N0TkfrQhY" target="_blank">Queen - Innuendo</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Queen are basically the epitome of all things great in music, and they don't fail to live up to that notion with this song in the least: an awesome, eargasm-inducing song that leads you through an emotion-filled, riff-laden musical wonderland, leaving your brain exhausted but fulfilled, and reminding you why music is the only actual achievement of mankind... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mtfnfQoAco" target="_blank">Mattafix - Big City Life</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; " Don't let the system get you down!" Again one of those songs that should have been on here a long time ago already due to its sheer awesomeness. This song portrays the problems of the stress-ridden urban population and the ever-increasing anonymity in an achievement-driven, work-filled world insanely well, yet retains a chill, almost enthusiastic undertone that makes it a great song to toke up to and do some philosophizing about the dreaded people in power trying to keep you down, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This concludes this entry, which is so delayed that our primitive way of communicating lacks the vocabulary needed to express the magnitude of said delay. I am seriously loathing myself for not having been "able" to write last month, and cannot even offer a feasible explanation to be honest, I mean I constantly had this post in mind and was actually eager to write, but somehow never actually got to it. It's weird, really, come to think of it. Seems like some sort of mental issue to be honest. Or perhaps it's just a manifestation of the general apathy that has taken hold of my life these past weeks for whatever reason. But I am definitely slowly getting back on track, and will post as regularly as possible from now on. At this point I would also like to extended my heartily apologies to anyone that was waiting for this post to appear, I am as I said in constant self-loathing because of my weird inability to write, and will work on posting on a regular basis again. I do hope that this entry was nevertheless enjoyable to you, and was able to open your eyes or sensitize you to some issues, and hopefully offered some truths that you can apply to your life. Selah.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Peace! </span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-19646316636170953972014-09-14T21:45:00.000+02:002014-09-14T21:45:36.968+02:00The damned brakes<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">were not&nbsp;working&nbsp;anymore, and had not been working for quite a while.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Still, we were three people huddled together on a small electric scooter doing about 28 miles per hour on a freeway in the middle of the night, all heavily tripping -- including myself, and I was driving -- on some over-the-counter medicine and a variety of uppers. I was fully dissociated and could not make out any differences between reality and hallucinations anymore, and neither could any of my friends for that matter. I was constantly ducking so as to avoid probably fictional branches whilst dodging imaginary obstacles, causing other travelers to honk and curse at us excessively. "Fuck, does anyone know where we are or where we're going?", I screamed at the two zombies sitting behind me, not really expecting an answer. "To the club" said one of them, his mouth almost falling off of his chin. "To your place" said the other, whose innards were showing through a gaping hole where his stomach would have supposed to be. Fucking hell, this was going to be a bitch of a ride - from nowhere to nowhere with the plague of the twenty-first-century riding on the back of my scooter. But this was not the time to deal with this geegaw. A monstrously large truck was stopping way too close to the beam barrier a few hundred yards</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">in front of us, and the damned brakes were still not even remotely functional. So I jammed my feet onto the asphalt -- lacerating my shoes and blowing the protective plastic of my soles to smithereens -- in order not to drive into said beast of a vehicle. Which did of course not create a big enough force to fully stop the scooter in time, but fortunately reduced our speed significantly enough to leave us harm-free after impact. "Impact" - we actually just rammed the truck a little, shattering the headlights and the protective wheel-cover of my electric bike to tiny pieces, but not causing damage to any third party. And albeit not having caused an accident per se, we were quite anxious due to our mutually heavy intake of psychoactive substances that day, so we decided to flee the scene rather abruptly, meaning that I hastily turned the electric pile of garbage that served as our vehicle around, drove wrong-way for a while, and then swirled over the median and ascended to the highway. My erratic patterns of thought and sporadic bodily spasms that fittingly came into being whilst doing so made driving straightly not only a challenge, but a downright impossibility, which, on a highway, was turning our trip into a dire health hazard, and slowly beginning to make me feel queasy. But I was nevertheless - even more actually - in need of focusing on the road, seeing as all our lives depended on my largely impaired driving skills.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But hot damn, the velocity felt good! I pushed the electric bike all the way up to about 33 mph and drove maniacally on the median, laughing into the winds of destiny whilst smirking at the sheer weirdness and danger we were finding ourselves in. We were on our way to the edge, and would probably not even notice when we'd reach it and be propelled into a dark oblivion of death, injury, and misery. But we had not gotten there yet, and I felt that we needed to go further; and since sobriety was still far away, and my friends were still zombies, I was free to do whatever the hell I pleased anyway. I would not hold back anymore I decided, and roared down the highway, still almost losing control of the bike every couple of minutes due to either muscular spasms or wet spots on the road. Actually, the bike was not the only thing I was losing control of: my mind was going rogue as well, and all sorts of weird monomaniac obsessions took hold of my thoughts every few seconds, making decision-making utterly impossible. "I need to go faster and harder on the curves to clear my mind" I shouted back at the two silent zombies. I did not know why these fucking decaying cadaver assholes were not talking, but I did not concern myself with it all too much either, and boomed on along the highway until I saw a serpentine exit route, and, wanting to push my luck, decided to take it. Zoom, zoom, zoom! I rushed downhill, barely making the curves and now even less in charge of the scooter's movements, but exhilarated and cranked up, hungry for more action. When we finally descended from the highway, I suddenly did not have any passengers anymore, which enticed me to stop and find out where those damned zombies from earlier had gone to. I got off the scooter and looked around&nbsp; a bit, when all of a sudden my friends materialized behind me o</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">ut of thin air</span>, no longer being zombies. "You rotten bastards, what kind of sorcery is this?" I shouted. "What the fuck are you talking about? We need to head back to your place, man!" and "Where the hell are we anyway?" were their answers. I did not know about any of that, so I lit a cigarette and pondered the issue at hand. We were in the middle of nowhere, the bike's battery was running low, and any of us could fall back into a drug-induced craze that might lead us into the next disaster at any point. We were somewhat fucked. But I didn't want to think about that for the time being. I remembered that we had some high-percentage whiskey and a lot of cheap grass stowed in the storage compartment of the scooter, so I decided to get both, and whilst I struggled to roll an awful-looking joint my friends opened the bottle of scotch. We finished the bottle and almost an eighth of the weed, and decided to just drive back in the direction we came from in order to try finding my place. We crammed ourselves back on the scooter, and, due to the lack of battery, drove down the road at about 15 mph. After what felt like at least ten hours of slow-mo&nbsp;crawling through the swamp of outskirt-roads we finally got back to somewhat familiar surroundings. So we decided to hunker down at a cheap internet café -- they charged about 5 cents per hour -- that was near the crossroads we had just gotten to in order to come&nbsp;back to reality&nbsp;a&nbsp;bit using the remainder of the grass whilst playing Counterstrike 1.6. As we were all still insanely on edge from the&nbsp;journey, we decided not to play&nbsp;a game that consisted of us shooting each other after all, and rather put on extremely loud Rock'n'Roll music&nbsp;and smoked a couple of blunts. A few hours went by, and when we were high enough&nbsp;to be calm again, we got back on the death-trap scooter without brakes, and headed on to my place.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Alas,&nbsp;our feeling of sobriety was&nbsp;a falsity.&nbsp;As soon as&nbsp;we hit the&nbsp;road again, I sensed a diziness slowly building up in my subconscious and&nbsp;quickly drifiting towards&nbsp;the conscious part of my cerebrum, instantly deluding the differences between the both of them and thereby catapulting me back into a&nbsp;daredevil speeding-frenzy: I needed to go west. I did not know why, but west was the way to go. So I looked at the road sign which had&nbsp;the cardinal directions inscribed into its plastic surface, discovered the small W on the left-hand side, and turned the run-down electric scooter in that very direction. Whilst driving down the avenue I needed to avoid weird flickers of light that were scattered across my vision and sometimes randomly materialized into other drivers. Upon arriving at a crossroads, I checked the road sign to see whether or not we were still going west. To my suprise, it was the same road sign again; it was the same fucking crossroads!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">This had to be a question of mere focus I thought, and so I pedantically re-examined the sign, found the small W once more on the left-hand side, and once again turned the scooter into that very direction. I pushed the electric vehicle to its remaining maximum velocity, hurrying down the avenue until we got to yet another crossroads. Which, after examining the road sign for a while, turned out to be the exact same spot again. I was getting desperate, and my friends' faces had completely melted for some reason, so they would not be very helpful either. I repeated the same steps as earlier: I made sure I was driving in the proper direction, took off, and arrived at the same place. Over and over again. After the fifth or sixth time, I was coming close to a nervous break-down. My friends' status had deteriorated even further, they had by now melted down to mushy globs of skin-colored mud, so still no help there. I decided to just say Fuck It and drive east this time. And just as I managed to slowly rotate the steering wheel to the right - I blacked out. When my brain reattached itself to my central nervous system and consciousness, we were already nearing my place. Or rather - I was. No-one else was there. But what the hell, I reckoned that they must have taken a taxi or something like that.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">A few more minutes of unstable driving ensued, and I finally pulled into the driveway of my place, happy to be home at last. I locked the scooter, plugged its charger into it, and entered the house through the door that was located inside of the garage. I went straight to the kitchen without switching on a single light, opened the fridge, went blind for a minute upon seeing the brightly-lit white inside of this temple of cool freshness shine through the darkness surrounding it, got a large bottle of water, closed the fridge again and went downstairs. When I entered my room, I sat down and instantly took a five-minute-long gulp of the water bottle, almost draining the entirety of its content. "Ah!" I breathed out, feeling replenished and freed of thirst. Afterwards, I rolled another small J, smoked it, and proceeded to sleep for almost eleven hours...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Hm. I have never posted a story like this on here before, and I was thinking I'd try that format out for a change. It is probably of interest to you how much truth there is in that story, and well, all elements presented in it are true. These things did not necessarily happen in that chronological order, or even on the same day or in the same month, but they all happened. I just combined them here for your reading pleasure, and I hope I was successful at doing so. Please let me know what you think about this kind of post, and if you would like to see something like this again on here at some point. I hope that it goes without saying that none of the above should ever be tried at home, I am still baffled that I survived all of the brake-less scooter-trips I have had the displeasure of partaking in in my time, and do not want anyone trying their luck with that kind of shit because they read it here.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">And well, in this light I'll leave you be, and, as always, give you a few musical gems to enjoy:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xarfMRZ3E0k" target="_blank">Ol' Dirty Bastard - Baby I Got Your Money</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Oh yeah, here's some good ol' dirty bastard for y'all! I don't think this classic track needs any kind of introduction to be honest, you should all know this tune, and well, the guy was a freaky but awesome musician who died way too young because of a bad mixture of cocaine and tramadol. Which is maybe why he had such a unique, never-seen-before style of rapping. Anyway, this song definitely needed featuring on here, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23o1a3_eazy-e-eazy-duz-it-with-lyrics_music" target="_blank">Eazy-E - Eazy Duz It</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; "Well, I'm Eazy-E, I got bitches galore. You may have a lot of bitches, but I got much more". Another timeless classic, this time out of Dre's camp, the infamous, notorious Eazy-E! I can not for the life of me figure out how I could have forgotten to post this tune until now, and am somewhat disappointed with myself to be honest. But well, here it is, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM" target="_blank">Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns, and Money</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I know, Warren Zevon again, but I keep finding great songs of his, plus this one is being referenced in one of Hunter S. Thompson's works somewhere, although I can't for the life of me remember where and don't have the book nearby to check, but I'll update regarding that. Anyway, great song sung by a great artist, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvfC7bJNjVE" target="_blank">Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Well, here goes another Bob Dylan song, and well, this one's a beauty, with truthful and deep lyrics underlined by awesome music. Dylan truly is a living legend, and this song shows just why that is, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6QsNXdDLQw" target="_blank">Alpha Noize &amp; Bass System - Infected (Spag Heddy Remix)</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Wow. I am speechless. I have featured Spag Heddy on here before, and he doesn't cease to amaze me: This is one raw fucking track! Amazing bass, a goosebumps-inducing underlying melody, coupled with outer-worldly drops, producing a sheer mind-blowing awesomeness that will remain lingering in your every thought for a few days, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpGkfG2uzsc" target="_blank">Music Predators - Adventure Time (Condukta Remix)</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Well, I have to admit that this isn't one of the best songs I have posted on here so far. But it still elicits a feeling in me I cannot quite put into words, plus it is a pretty cool song with a nice melody and an awesome use of bass. By the way, you may have noticed that this and the previous song were both featured on the "MA Dubstep" Channel, which I would like to recommend not as an alternative but as an addition to the UKF channel, seeing as they have some great amazingly raw tracks as well. Anyway, I do like this song, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">So, I have finished this post in about 10 days, which is actually prior to my newly-set deadline of two weeks, but well, the sooner the better, ain't it? Anyhow. I hope you have enjoyed this largely different post, and of course today's selection of songs.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Peace!</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-77030608895790110172014-09-05T17:38:00.000+02:002014-09-06T13:19:29.024+02:00The Zeitgeist of our age<span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">is basically non-existent. The hippies defined the zeitgeist of the sixties as a peaceful, drug-fueled revolt</span> <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">against the forces of Old and Evil. The seventies were defined by Disco, the eighties by Rock, the nineties by Rap. But what is the zeitgeist, the spirit, heck, the meaning of the millennial years? Is there even any? Or are we slowly drifting away from a unified sense in our period and approaching a highly-individualized era of senselessness? I mean, what is today's literature made up of? Thrillers, cheap romance novels, investigative pieces on the NSA scandal that came into being way too late, and well, science-fiction and fantasy novels. But is there really a trend in this seemingly random arrangement of themes prevalent in this languish mass of essentially wasted paper? I am by no means a literary expert of any kind, so I cannot know with any certainty, but to me it seems that there is no trend, no meaning, no spirit, nothing at all in the accumulated piles of words that are being thrown at the unsuspecting reader in any and all bookstores around the world.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">But that's not fair to say vis-à-vis some grand literary productions that have seen the light of day in the current time and age we so selfishly call 'ours'. There are a myriad great books filled with a plethora of valuable and interesting content-matter out there, I am by no means trying to deny that. But I am missing a golden thread throughout this period that would tie everything together in a unifying thriving to achieve a certain meaningful message in each and every little piece of literature being created. Which is actually not that weird; I'm fairly certain that when literary critics of future years examine the culture we're exhibiting in writing today they'll see a sense in that jumbled mess we're currently finding ourselves in. Albeit having to cede the possible fallacy of that assumption solely because we, and therefore also our writing is getting dumber by the minute, I am still optimistic in our generation succeeding in defining a movement, even if it is the kind that is only apparent in retrospect. Maybe everything written, recorded, and filmed is just a small molecular structure playing its role in a far larger system that it could not even begin to visualize. Maybe all publications have their meaning, but only in a chain of events that has not yet been set into motion and will only be visible once that it has run its course and gone down in history. And maybe not. Perhaps we are after all but players performing on a run-down stage for a non-existent audience merely thinking that we contribute to an equally fictional literary pedigree defined by an undefinable zeitgeist. But I don't really know about any of that to be honest, and actually cannot possibly know. Because if I could, I would be writing about just that - the soul of today's literature, the spirit of our generation, the zeitgeist of our time. And I know I've overused these words in this post already, and it's not that my vocabulary has suddenly devolved to a level far below par, but much rather that I lack synonyms/similar words describing the idea I am trying to convey as fittingly as the ones I have used. So I'll just stick to those.</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Anyway. Since I have started writing, I have always tried to maintain a certain standard not only in regard to quality but especially in regard to the message and sense in my words; I have personally always been eager to learn a little something when reading a book, blog, or basically anything, and am therefore trying to incorporate just that in my writing, so that my readers may be inspired to change a few things in themselves, or be enticed to rethink a few points prevalent in their lives, or even just be craving to criticize what I wrote and therefore deal with the topics I have approached. Any and all of these things make me happy. Having an impact on people is a great feeling in itself, and if it is positive it is even more so. I am of course in no position to be claiming to have great truths to offer to mankind that would alter one's perception of things drastically, but I do think that I know a couple of things and have a few opinions that might at least help shape people's own opinion of certain topic. But I have said pretty much that at the end of basically every entry so far. So, what am I getting at with this seemingly random tangent about my intentions when composing these posts for you? Well, if you remember, we were talking about the unified sense in the literary era we currently find ourselves in, and, well, I figured that if everyone has at least similarly high ambitions when it comes to creating meaningful content as I have, this unifying meaning might just be present in today's literature and media after all. Or at least I hope so. Because otherwise, all authors and entertainers would merely be defined by their own legacy, and not be perceived as contributors to a certain significant value that defined their period. Which in one sense would be great, simply because no-one would be able to just ride along on the wave that is the zeitgeist of their period without himself being an even almost-decent author, but on the other hand it would be a horrid perversion of any literary creation, because any author whose work actually holds value is adding that value to society, so just focusing on the work itself would actually be demeaning to said creation.</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;, Courier, monospace;">Although I have to admit that when watching national TV I am rather ambivalent about aforementioned hope of today's media and literature having more meaning than the sum of their parts. Because the bullshit that is pandering to the lowest common denominator in society is being called great television nowadays, and the irrelevant "news stories" that are essentially just the mad illusions of some paparazzi are being treated as quality journalism. And that alone is such a gargantuan sign of foulness and decay in the media world that I cannot actually stand behind my own aforementioned thoughts about everybody else putting as big an emphasis on quality and meaning within their content as it would be appropriate to do. I mean, art, music, and writing were always supposed to be a means to convey a message or at least an emotion to an audience. But nowadays it only seems like a means to make ends meet and enriching oneself beyond any reasonable need. Which is fine. I love to see people in the entertainment business actually being able to live from their art, but the focus of said work should be to actually create something of value to others that goes beyond entertainment in itself. Something that might actually have a positive impact on people's life. Something that might elevate their dull and languish status quo to a meta-sphere of understanding and excitement. Or at least something that elicits some kind of feeling in audiences that causes them to ponder the addressed topics over and over in order to form an opinion on them. But I am just reiterating my previous points here. The main essence has hopefully already been understood by you guys: entertainment should always strive to hold some deeper meaning than the sum of its parts and thereby enrich your life in some way. At least in my opinion that is. But apparently,&nbsp;that opinion is slowly becoming threatened with extinction in the great pool of opinion sharks looking to devour smaller but more intelligent fish by the dozen. </span><br><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Anyway. This is not only applicable to literature, arts, and media, but also to a business environment. A businesses' main purpose besides making profit should be to create some sort of value for the customer that goes beyond the product being sold in&nbsp;itself.&nbsp;A practice that has by now become commonplace in most industries actually, but for some reason&nbsp;flew by&nbsp;the entertainment sector without leaving its marks. Which is sad, because why should we expect more from some slimy-ass corporate plug than from those having dedicated their lives to bringing enjoyable media to others?</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">I mean for Fuck's sake, it's supposed to be the other way round isn't it? The business guys are supposed to be those doing their best to not deliver any additional value because that would mean additional costs for them, and the entertainment people are those supposed to be working their asses off to deliver as much value in their "products" as they possibly can! But somewhere along the way some wires seem to have gotten crossed, and suddenly up is down, right is wrong, and the entertainment sector&nbsp;is less ethically and socially responsible than most large corporations. Ha. This is essentially the exact same conclusion I came up with one paragraph prior to this one, but well, I think I've highlighted another aspect here that might seem downright weird to some. I mean, it is of course not true that all multinationals are suddenly acting as saints or anything like that. All I am saying is that it is less surprising by now to see a company act ethically and socially responsible than seeing a music label and its artists doing so. Which is another huge indicator of the foulness and decay within the entertainment industry in this day and age. And it saddens me to see how fucking low we have stooped, to what primal level we have receded.&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Hm. For some reason most of my posts boil down to this, don't they? In the end, it's always about the inner decay within humanity that ruins so many great things. Whether or not that is universally applicable is something I am quite ambivalent about though. On one hand it is true that those things most prevalent in media are obviously those the masses choose to watch, because otherwise they would not have big enough of an audience to allow them to stay on the air, so signs of decay in the media landscape can be treated as a mere outlet of the decay happening in the society producing it. On the other hand, most mainstream media are in the tight grip of large corporations and therefore only strive to produce short-term profits for share- and stakeholders, so the decay in the media world might just be a projection of the greedy ways of those in power. Whichever way you decide to look at it though, I can think we can all agree that entertainment nowadays is not what it used to be. Or at least not the way it' supposed to be, if it ever was. And well, as I have said so many times at the end of so many paragraphs, that is just fucking sad.&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">But I am really just paraphrasing myself to some extent here. You have understood the main point I am trying to convey by now, and if you haven't then all the writing I could produce wouldn't help you anymore, so going on would be a futile effort on my part. And therefore I am not going to take it. I am in delay enough as it is anyway without making this post any longer, so I am going to stop. Apropos the delay though, I have decided to change my personal deadline to every two weeks seeing as I have not even been close to making the weekly deadline for, like, ever, so I am just being honest to you and to myself by changing this deadline to posting twice a month. I hope you don't mind all too much and have enjoyed this post. In this light I'll as always leave you be with some great music:</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ZutZXPb8I" target="_blank">Funxion - Something Different</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Well this is indeed something different. Great melodic beginning, than a really unexpected drop with these shadowy snare hits in the background that make this great tune such an epically melodic yet energetic piece of music. And well the MA Dubstep logo looks fucking cool, so... Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BV37Dcxj9s" target="_blank">Bakermat - One Day (Vandaag)</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; The video to this track is somewhat confusing to me, but I do love the song nevertheless. The saxophone combined with the awesome deep house beat and the inspirational speech that Martin Luther King gave during that fateful march in Washington all those years ago. It's goosebumps-inducing to say the least. Amazing tune, and a fucking enthralling saxophone melody, so... Enjoy!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwxWz1ZL2mU" target="_blank">Wu-Tang Clan - Killer Bees</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; "Let's take it back to '79!!" Wu-Tang in their prime, insane beat, great rap, just an amazing, classic track that definitely needed featuring here, so... Enjoy!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0BlXy3Roj4" target="_blank">Method Man - Bring The Pain</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Well, here's what always happens when I listen to Wu-Tang: I hear Meth's part and I get reminded of some great song of his, and immediately switch to listening to it. Which in this case is good for you guys, because I can now share this classic gem with you. Great video, amazing lyrics, legendary MC, and an overall awesome track, so... Enjoy!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSWiatjMkk" target="_blank">Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (5/4/65) Bootleg</a>&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; For lack of the "original" version on YouTube (fuckers...), here is a bootlegged version of the great Dylan tune that was played at Hunter S. Thompson's funeral, and is just a beautiful and timelessly classic song that has a deeper meaning to it, so... Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ibe85f_Tqw" target="_blank">Warren Zevon - The French Inhaler</a></span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; Here is possibly the greatest "fuck you, ex" song ever composed to this day, and asides the obvious benefits of venting by listening to it, it is just a fucking amazing piece of music. Warren Zevon's music is just so great, and I cannot say that I have found a song of him that I actually dislike so far, so... Enjoy!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Well. This post took an eternity to complete once again and I can now with certainty say that my next one will also take about the same amount of time, seeing as I am stuck with university tasks and projects, and also as of lately with community service, which is just fucking annoying and has no rehabilitative effects whatsoever. But well. Shit happens, and I'll just get through with it as quickly as I can and then never ever let the thought of it interfere with any electrical impulses between my neurons ever again.</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Anyhow. I hope that this post was enjoyable to you, and well, as always, that you learned something or were enticed to rethink things, but you know the deal.&nbsp;</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Peace!</span><br><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543744133722885553.post-3844666100754654692014-08-17T18:46:00.002+02:002014-08-17T18:46:34.423+02:00I have many vices<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">but apparently I did not feel that they were enough yet, so I decided to add a bad gambling habit to them. I had actually planned to get into gambling since I started to report on the World Cup games a few months ago but have not had the financial liquidity necessary for it up until now. And well, I've already lost most of the money I had put down, but am now very enticed to put some more dough down and try to win back what has been lost so far. Which is a bad idea, trust me I know that it is, but so are alcohol, drugs, and borderline insanity, but those have always worked for me (not wanting to plagiarize Hunter S. Thompson here), meaning that gambling will probably work for me as well. Or not, and I'll never post here again because I'll lose all my assets and end up living on the streets. But up to that point, I will continue to gamble on a variety of sporting events I know nothing about. Which is in all likelihood not the best way to go, but quite exciting nevertheless. Or just because of that?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I mean, I have not embraced risk and danger all too much in my life, or at least I thought that I didn't. But come to think of it, I might be a lot more prone to taking huge risks and putting myself in dangerous situations than I had originally thought. It's not a huge surprise though due to the fact that I have been close to dying both physically and mentally purely out of neglect for the possible consequences of my doing, meaning that I had taken as large a risk as I possibly could, and that it almost backfired on me. Which did not stop me from doing the same things over and over again though, each time with the same possibility of imminent death. Not that I take pride in having done so. But this behavior definitely shows that there is a risk-taking aspect to my personality that might be a lot stronger than I had gauged it to be so far.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And if that's good or bad, I don't know. All I do know is that it seems to exist at times. There are other moments however; moments in which I do not take the slightest of risk and remain as stale as I imagine soups in prison to be. But those are usually passing rather quickly, and almost exclusively appear in situations that I did not get in of my own accord. So, am I a risk-taker by definition? Or am I just blind to risk in situations that would actually call for both eyes being wide open? Am I reckless or just stupid? I believe the line one has to cross to turn from the one to the other to be extremely thin, borderline anorexic actually. Recklessness can have its roots in stupidity, and stupid behavior can be induced by reckless thinking. The both are interdependent, and yet they stem from different worlds, hell, from different universes altogether. Which makes this whole thing a lot more complicated. Because even if the risks of an action underway are just too obvious for one to be oblivious about their existence, and one still decides to partake in said action, one is either a complete moron or a daredevil. Leaving us at the same impasse we were at two sentences ago. Hm. This is certainly a dilemma of large proportions. I mean, I could go the easy way and just state that all people exhibiting a daredevil attitude are in reality just idiots seemingly looking to accelerate their inescapable demise by acting foolishly. But that would just be what the government does; throwing people in a pot with others that may seem similar but are in reality equipped with a myriad of differences to separate them from each other. And I am not going to stoop to that level, pandering to the lowest common denominator found in society. No, I am much rather going to shed some light on this issue. The thing that separates those taking risks for a thrill and those taking risks out of stupid negligence is essentially that those taking the risk for a thrill are trying to accelerate towards the notorious edge I have already discussed at length in order to reach a state of understanding; they're taking these risks as means to an end, as stepping stones paving the way to recognition, to an epiphany of sorts. They're looking to reach a new mental platform of being, and can only do so by pushing the risks associated with their actions to an absolute maximum. Whereas those taking risks out of stupidity and/or negligence will quickly back down once they've seen the hazards accompanying their doing; they're not looking to "see the light" when the prospect becomes reality, they're not wanting to use the danger as a mean to reach an understanding and revelation-inducing&nbsp;end. No, they have simply overstepped their boundaries by accident, and are paralyzed with fear like they've been struck by lighting, just looking for a way back to their normal, peril-free, dull, and relentlessly stagnating way of life. Which is fine, really. No-one should be forced to partake in any possibly dangerous action, and nobody should be allowed to force others out of their insanely boring comfort zone. Then again, no human being should be taking drugs by the definition of most governments, and we all know damn well that that is just wrong,&nbsp;ludicrous, and has lost all touch with real life.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, to all of you daredevils: go and grab one of your dullest acquaintances and throw them in a situation they cannot possibly handle in order to get these boring fuckers to finally live their lives in a way that is worthy of being called that.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Ha. Those that know me personally will have snickered at the above sentence, simply because I am really not the type of guy to go out and do things that others would file under 'daredevil'. But I am living life to the fullest in another way, I am&nbsp;deliberately entering&nbsp;perilous situations in order to dash towards the illustrious edge, so, no, I would not consider myself as being dull, stagnating, fester, languish, or stall in any way. Maybe in the way that the sporting-fitness kind of people would consider as being idle. But I have at best slim interest for their definitions, seeing as my quest for an interesting and fulfilled life usually largely differs from theirs. This does not imply that I want to demean aforementioned group's definition though. It just means that mine is largely different, and that theirs cannot possibly apply to me just as much as mine cannot possibly apply to them. Which is not a bad thing by any means, it just shows the great diversity in the approaches different people have when it comes to the question of how to define yourself and your goals in life. It is pernicious to think your ideas and ideologies are right for everyone, and trying to insidiously push these on others is a heinous act of what essentially boils down to fascism. So, like I always say, "live and let live". That is as simple but at the same time as efficient as it gets. And I know that I have said that like a million times already, but it does not cease to be the best advice I could possibly give to anyone reading these words and pondering their meaning.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I mean, there are obviously situations that call for an active involvement rather than passive disregard, and in those cases, such as the government trying to take your freedoms or some asshole trying to rob you, it is better not to stick to the electric principle of taking the path of least resistance, and rather go ahead and kick some ass and take some names. But generally speaking, as long as your freedom isn't at stake, it's much better to just let people go about their business and not interfere because you don't perceive it as being "right" or "morally/socially acceptable".&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, the essence of this paragraph is essentially the anarchic principle of being able to take any and all freedoms for oneself as long as they do not obstruct the freedom of others, which, if people were smart enough to adhere to it, would make for a much better world than the war-ridden one we inhabit today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">All in all, I think that I'm touching on an all-too-familiar issue here once again: the idiocy of fellow man, and the disastrous consequences resulting from it. We humans are the only animal capable of actual thought, we're the only animal capable of judging its own actions, and yet we're completely unable to behave in a way that would honor such a high place in the world, unable to cope with the responsibility that arises from such great intellect, and completely unfit to rule over our own lives, much less over the faith of the entire fucking planet. And yet here we are, trying to do just that. And failing miserably, as always. Failure seems to be the only real constant in human history anyway. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to demean all the great achievements of mankind, we have come a long-ass way since the first ape decided it was time to walk on two legs instead of four and communicate using language instead of signs, but there has always been somewhat of a downward trend in all of our development, hasn't there? We had the industrialization, which was in itself good, but brought on inhumane treatment of workers, horrid environmental damages, and made some very fucking evil people very fucking rich. Then along came the globalization, which in itself had, and still has many positive aspects, but also created the means necessary for an even greater exploitation of the third world, a merging of standards only helpful to corporations, and an unprecedented opportunity for foreign secret services to spy on us. But well, globalization is of course not the sole responsible for these developments, and neither is the industrialization for that matter. It's us humans that cannot cope with great discoveries, it's us as a species that are unable to use these developments for the betterment of society and the environment. So, I reiterate: failure really is the only constant in human development so far. And that is sad, because there is such grand potential in all of mankind's achievements. But well, money and greed will always prevail, and we can therefore shove that potential up our asses, because we are not the ones that have the financial means necessary to make the corporate giants topple and finally use their might for good. "Good" - such a loosely defined term, but I think it is quite clear what I mean by it in this particular case.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Anyway. I am getting tired of this topic. It seems like no matter how many times I insist on it, no matter how many times I write about it, the same shit completely opposing my words just keeps on going down. So, I'll just hope that at least some of you manage to incorporate some of the things mentioned in this post in your own lives. Or at least think about some of the things and make up your own mind, you know the deal. So -- in this light -- I'll leave you be with some good music:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR9OH6BjOo" target="_blank">Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt;Blah blah blah. You can rip on me all you want for posting a Red Hot Chili Peppers song on here, but fact of the matter is that this song is pretty damn cool and catchy, plus it somehow reminds me of a time not all too long ago when I did not think about things as much and everything was much simpler. And even if it didn't remind me of anything - this song is awesome, the guitar riff has an awesome ring to it, the vocals are really nicely put on there, alternating between spoken and sung, and all in all this is just a great classic tune, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DHY7BiFm-E" target="_blank">Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; I might be pushing my luck by putting yet another RHCP tune here, but since the topic is fitting, and I just heard this track on the radio, I decided to put it on here as well. And well, the title is the same as that of my favorite non-animated TV-show, so I guess it needed to appear here at some point anyway, so why not today? Plus the song in itself is quite nice, I really enjoy the melancholic guitar that starts with the intro and is present throughout the entire song, and the lyrics are quite cool as well, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8sDp65dyeA" target="_blank">Dr. Dre feat. Ice Cube - Natural Born Killaz</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; <i>"You've got a problem? I've a got a problem solver, and his name is revolver" </i>Awesome lyrics, legendary MCs, grimy-ass beat, and an overall great song! And well, pretty sick lyrics, but that's the way things went down back in the day I guess, and they're mostly an expression of rage anyway. Plus, Death Row used to be the most dangerous record label, so they had a certain reputation to uphold. And regardless of all that, this tune is fucking awesome and an absolute classic, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJR3GVAupcI" target="_blank">Eminem - Mosh</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-&gt; Here is an anti-Bush song, and as you can imagine, I thoroughly despise George W. Bush (and Dick Cheney for that matter), his politics, and everything he stands for, meaning that I immensely enjoy this tune. And well, Hunter S. Thompson, who was very well known for really <b>hating</b> Richard Nixon, said the following during an interview in 2004: "</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">[...] if Nixon was running against George Bush. I’d vote for Nixon. Yeah... I never thought I’d say that." Which just goes to show how bad of a president George actually was. But anyway, this is a great political song that bashes Bush quite nicely, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHTjSHTngmA" target="_blank">Dimitri Vegas, Moguai &amp; Like Mike - Mammoth (Original Mix)</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; I know that this song has by now reached what one could consider a mainstream-status, but that does not diminish its quality in anyway. I first heard this great track in 2012 or 13 at a friend's place, and had somewhat of an eargasm when the awesome melodic part combined with the heavy bass hit my eardrums for the first time in my life. Needless to say, I've enjoyed this song ever since, and I think that it is one of the very best tunes modern EDM has to offer, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh5yJG7No3w" target="_blank">Flux Pavilion - The Scientist</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">-&gt; You know I love the UKF Dubstep Channel, you know that I love Flux Pavilion, and you know I love emphasizing my love for the both of them, so here goes another classic Flux Pavilion tune that I should have put on here long ago but for some reason failed to do so. Anyway, this song is just fucking awesome, great vocals, beautiful melody, and an outer-worldly drop that leaves your ears bleeding but your mind happy, so... Enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Well. This post turned out to be of a little more than average length, sifting through a couple of topics, but remaining a lot more organized than the previous mess I decided to publish. From gambling to risk-taking to freedom to mankind's overall failure. A nice, logically adjacent chain of themes I think. Or at least hope. Anyway. I hope that you've enjoyed this post, and want to apologize for missing the "deadline" (the quotes are there because I have shifted said date from being every other day to every week to every ten days, meaning that there is no real regularity and therefore also no real deadline to adhere to) by a couple of days once again. The main reason for it this time is that I am enjoying my holidays at the North Sea and only have my cellphone's mobile network to rely on, which sucks. But well, I hope you're not all too disappointed and have enjoyed the above ramblings.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">Peace!</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16815853284342243507noreply@blogger.com0